Phil Taylor

Macquarie University · Applied BioScience

Floral constituents of the Australian tar tree, Semecarpus australiensis, distributed in Melanesia and Northern Australia, were extracted with solvent, and analyzed by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry. The main constituents were 16- and 18-carbon fatty acids and their ethyl esters. Amongst the 67 identified compounds, zingerone was detected in...

Humans have used weaver ants, Oecophylla smaragdina, as biological control agents to control insect pests in orchards for many centuries. Over recent decades, the effectiveness of weaver ants as biological control agents has been attributed in part to deterrent and oviposition inhibiting effects of kairomones produced by the ants, but the chemical...

Rectal gland volatiles are key mediators of sexual interactions in tephritid fruit flies. We used solid-phase microextraction (SPME) plus gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) and gas chromatography-flame ionization detection (GC-FID) to substantially expand rectal gland chemical characterisation of the Queensland fruit fly ( Bactrocera tryo...

Female insects commonly have more than one mate during a breeding period (‘polyandry’), storing and using sperm from multiple males. In addition to its evolutionary significance, insect polyandry has practical implications for pest management that relies on the sterile insect technique (SIT). The Queensland fruit fly, Bactrocera tryoni (Froggatt),...

The Queensland fruit fly (Q‐fly), Bactrocera tryoni (Froggatt), is a major horticultural pest in Australia. Sterile insect technique (SIT) is increasingly used in area‐wide integrated management of Q‐fly, as well as for eradication of outbreaks in Q‐fly‐free regions. Quality control (QC) procedures are important to monitor and maintain high standar...

Humans have used weaver ants, Oecophylla smaragdina , as biological control agents to control insect pests in orchards for many centuries. Over recent decades, the effectiveness of weaver ants as biological control agents has been attributed in part to kairomones produced by the ants, but the chemical identity of these kairomones has remained unkno...

The transition from nature to laboratory or mass rearing can impose significant physiological and evolutionary impact on insects. The Queensland fruit fly (also known as ‘Qfly’), Bactrocera tryoni (Froggatt) (Diptera: Tephritidae), is a serious economic pest that presents major challenges for horticulture industries in Australia. The sterile insect...

Females of many insect species are unreceptive to remating for a period following their first mating. This inhibitory effect may be mediated by either the female or her first mate, or both, and often reflects the complex interplay of reproductive strategies between the sexes. Natural variation in remating inhibition and how this phenotype responds...

Queensland fruit fly is one of the most economically important horticultural pests in Australia. Sterile insect technique (SIT) is now being reconsidered and upscaled to combat this pest so reliable discrimination of released sterile Q-flies from wild flies in monitoring traps is important for effective SIT operations. Stable isotopes provide a per...

Queensland fruit fly (Q-fly), Bactrocera tryoni (Froggatt), is a significant pest of horticultural crops in Australia. The sterile insect technique (SIT) is currently employed to eradicate outbreaks in fruit fly free regions and may also be used to suppress populations in endemic regions. For SIT to succeed, it is imperative that the released steri...

Multiple mating by females, polyandry, is common in insects, including in tephritid fruit flies. Female insects that remate commonly store sperm of multiple males. How the sperm of different males contribute to paternity is an important element of sexual selection. Sexual behaviour and reproduction of the Queensland fruit fly (Qfly), Bactrocera try...

In Sterile Insect Technique (SIT) programs, the released sterile insects must attain sexual maturity at an early adult age so that a large proportion survive to mature and contribute to reducing reproduction of pest populations. Previous field studies based on release of adult Queensland fruit fly, Bactrocera tryoni (Froggatt) (‘Q-fly’), at 2 days...

Juvenile hormone is an important regulator of sexual development in insects, and application of methoprene, a juvenile hormone analogue, together with access to a protein-rich diet, has been found to accelerate sexual maturation of several tephritid fruit fly species including Queensland fruit fly Bactrocera tryoni (‘Q-fly’). Such accelerated devel...

Pheromones are biologically important in fruit fly mating systems, and also have potential applications as attractants or mating disrupters for pest management. Bactrocera kraussi (Hardy) (Diptera: Tephritidae) is a polyphagous pest fruit fly for which the chemical profile of rectal glands is available for males but not for females. There have been...

The sterile insect technique (SIT) is a sustainable pest management tool based on the release of millions of sterile insects that suppress reproduction in targeted populations. Success of SIT depends on survival, maturation, dispersal, and mating of released sterile insects. Laboratory and field cage studies have demonstrated that dietary supplemen...

Polyandry, whereby females mate with more than one male in a reproductive cycle, can result in sperm competition or cryptic female choice, and have fitness implications for both sexes. Understanding patterns of sperm storage in twice-mated females can provide valuable insights to mechanisms that mediate sperm use and paternity. In the Queensland fr...

Insects tend to live within well-defined habitats, and at smaller scales can have distinct microhabitat preferences. These preferences are important, but often overlooked, in applications of the sterile insect technique. Different microhabitat preferences of sterile and wild insects may reflect differences in environmental tolerance and may lead to...

Irradiated Queensland fruit flies (Bactrocera tryoni) used in Sterile Insect Technique (SIT) programmes are marked with fluorescent dyes to distinguish them from wild flies when recaptured in monitoring traps. However, coating sterile pupae with powdered dyes can reduce emergence rates and fly quality and can sometimes produce insufficiently certai...

Queensland fruit fly (Q-fly), Bactrocera tryoni (Froggatt), presents a major threat to Australian fruit production and trade. The sterile insect technique (SIT) is increasingly employed to manage Q-fly. Quality of sterile males released in SIT programs, and hence program efficacy, can be affected by pre-and post-production processes, such as mass r...

Bactrocera bryoniae is a polyphagous and economically significant fruit fly found in Indonesia, Papua New Guinea and Australia. To understand chemical-mediated sexual communication, and the potential for novel pheromone-based attractants for monitoring and mass-trapping of B. bryoniae, rectal gland exudates and emissions from sexually mature males...

Incursions of the Queensland fruit fly Bactrocera tryoni (Qfly) into areas without permanent Qfly populations present serious threats to the Australian and New Zealand horticultural industries. Identifying the origins of recent incursions will help reduce future threats by enabling the targeting of problematic incursion routes for more stringent qu...

The sterile insect technique (SIT), a benign pest control strategy, is currently undergoing a substantial renewal for controlling the Queensland fruit fly (Q-fly), a major horticultural pest in Australia. Production and delivery of high-quality flies is fundamental to effective SIT. While efforts are commonly made to improve production at a factory...

In order to reproduce, female tephritid fruit flies need both mates for fertilization and fruit for oviposition. Virgin females are prone to mating and approach males, attracted by their pheromones. Mated females, however, may experience an abrupt reduction of mating propensity and prioritise the search for suitable fruit rather than additional mat...

Studies of reproductive biology in insects often require quantification of sperm production, transfer or storage. Here, we develop a quantitative real‐time PCR‐based assay using a Y‐specific marker for quantification of sperm from spermathecae of female Queensland fruit fly (‘Q‐fly’), overcoming constraints typical of traditional sperm quantificati...

The sterile insect technique (SIT) is used in area-wide integrated management of Queensland fruit fly (Q-fly) Bactrocera tryoni (Froggatt), as well as to eradicate outbreaks in fruit-fly-free regions. Before exposure to ionising radiation to induce sterility, Q-fly pupae are usually sealed in plastic bags to create hypoxic conditions that have a cr...

BACKGROUND The sterile insect technique (SIT) is used in Australia to contain and eradicate outbreaks of Bactrocera tryoni (Froggatt) (Diptera: Tephritidae) in fruit fly free regions, and to manage populations in some endemic regions. To assess the likely impact of SIT on wild B. tryoni populations it is important to assess the colocation and synch...

Background The highly polyphagous Queensland fruit fly ( Bactrocera tryoni Froggatt) expanded its range substantially during the twentieth century and is now the most economically important insect pest of Australian horticulture, prompting intensive efforts to develop a Sterile Insect Technique (SIT) control program. Using a “common garden” approac...

Diverse methods have been used to sample insect semiochemicals. Sampling methods can differ in efficiency and affinity and this can introduce significant biases when interpreting biological patterns. We compare common methods used to sample tephritid fruit fly rectal gland volatiles (‘pheromones’), focusing on Queensland fruit fly, Bactrocera tryon...

Females of many insects express sexual inhibition after their first mating, and this behavioural switch is commonly induced by components of male seminal fluid contents. Our project aims to first characterise this phenotype in the Queensland fruit fly (Bactrocera tryoni, Qfly) and secondly to identify the inhibitory molecules in male Qfly seminal f...

The sterile insect technique (SIT) and male annihilation technique (MAT) are important tools for the control of Queensland fruit fly (Q-fly), Bactrocera tryoni (Froggatt) (Diptera: Tephritidae), a major insect pest of horticultural crops in Australia. In MAT, mature Q-fly males are attracted to a toxic bait using Cuelure, a synthetic analog of rasp...

Tephritid flies released in sterile insect technique pest management programs are usually marked with fluorescent dyes so that they can be distinguished from wild flies in monitoring traps. Dyes can have adverse effects on emergence, quality, and survival, which can impact sterile insect technique (SIT) success, and so it is important to identify d...

Bactrocera tryoni (Froggatt), the Queensland fruit fly (Qfly), is a highly polyphagous tephritid fly that is widespread in Eastern Australia. Qfly physiology is closely linked with its fungal associates, with particular relationship between Qfly nutrition and yeast or yeast-like fungi. Despite animal-associated fungi typically occurring in multi-sp...

In Sterile Insect Technique (SIT) programs, massive numbers of insects are reared, sterilised and released in the field to impede reproduction of pest populations. The domestication and rearing processes used to produce insects for SIT programs may have significant evolutionary impacts on life history and reproductive biology. We assessed the effec...

The cuticular layer of the insect exoskeleton contains diverse compounds that serve important biological functions, including the maintenance of homeostasis by protecting against water loss, protection from injury, pathogens and insecticides, and communication. Bactrocera tryoni (Froggatt) is the most destructive pest of fruit production in Austral...

Sterile insect technique (SIT) is an environmentally benign pest management technique that involves releasing millions of sterile insects to suppress reproduction of pest populations. Many fruit flies, including Queensland fruit fly (Bactrocera tryoni Froggatt, 'Q-fly'), have long adult maturation periods such that pre-maturation mortality can grea...

Insecticides used to control fruit fly pests have been implicated in negative effects on natural enemies, human health and the environment. As potential ‘softer’ insecticides, natural compounds such as essential oils and their constituents have received increased attention as insecticide candidates. Queensland fruit fly (Q-fly), Bactrocera tryoni (...

Larval diets used for artificial rearing can have a significant effect on insect biology. The Queensland fruit fly (aka “Qfly”), Bactrocera tryoni (Froggatt) (Diptera: Tephritidae), is one of the greatest challenges for fruit growers in Australia. The sterile insect technique (SIT) is being developed to manage outbreaks in regions that remain free...

We report on the vapor pressures at ambient temperatures of seven attractants of Bactrocera, Dacus and Zeugodacus fruit flies - raspberry ketone, cuelure, raspberry ketone trifluoroacetate, methyl eugenol, methyl isoeugenol, dihydroeugenol and zingerone - by a vapor saturation method. Dry nitrogen was passed over each compound at well-controlled te...

Methoprene supplements added to diets of yeast hydrolysate and sugar promote early expression of sexual behaviour and mating in male Queensland fruit fly (Bactrocera tryoni; ‘Q-fly’) and show promise as a pre-release treatment for sterile insect technique programs. Currently it is not known whether the early mating behaviour of methoprene-treated m...

The Queensland fruit fly, Bactrocera tryoni, is a major pest of Australian horticulture which has expanded its range in association with the spread of horticulture over the last ~ 150 years. Its distribution in northern Australia overlaps that of another fruit fly pest to which some authors accord full species status, Bactrocera aquilonis. We have...

Passiflora maliformis is an introduced plant in Australia but its flowers are known to attract the native Jarvis’s fruit fly, Bactrocera jarvisi (Tryon). The present study identifies and quantifies likely attractant(s) of male B. jarvisi in P. maliformis flowers. The chemical compositions of the inner and outer coronal filaments, anther, stigma, ov...

Bactrocera tryoni (Froggatt) (Queensland fruit fly, or “Qfly”) is a highly polyphagous tephritid fruit fly and a serious economic pest in Australia. Qfly biology is intimately linked to the bacteria and fungi of its microbiome. While there are numerous studies of the microbiome in larvae and adults, the transition of the microbiome through the pupa...

Tephritid fruit flies are commonly reared on artificial larval diets for laboratory studies and for sterile insect technique pest management programs. While significant effort has been invested in developing artificial larval diets, surprisingly little is known about the specific nutritional requirements of tephritid flies. Recently developed gel l...

The green tree ant, Oecophylla smaragdina, is one of only two recognized species of weaver ants. While the identity and functions of chemicals produced and emitted by its congener O. longinoda have been studied quite extensively and serve as a valuable model in chemical ecology research, little comparable information is available about O. smaragdin...

Animals can gain significant advantages from abilities to detect cues from predators, assess risks, and respond adaptively to reduce the likelihood of injurious interactions. In contrast, predator cue-induced changes in behaviour may interfere with fitness-associated activities such as exploration, foraging and reproduction. Despite the ecological...

Pre‐release dietary treatment with methoprene, a juvenile hormone analogue, decreases the age at which male Queensland fruit flies mature and hence may decrease the post‐release delay until released sterile flies participate in sterile insect technique (SIT) programmes. However, if matings of young methoprene‐treated males are not effective at indu...

Bactrocera frauenfeldi (Schiner) (Diptera: Tephritidae) is a polyphagous fruit fly pest species that is endemic to Papua New Guinea and has become established in several Pacific Islands and Australia. Despite its economic importance for many crops and the key role of chemical-mediated sexual communication in the reproductive biology of tephritid fr...

Queensland fruit flies Bactrocera tryoni (Froggatt) have a long adult maturation phase which, together with high mortality rates, can substantially reduce number of released flies that survive to mature and contribute to sterile insect technique (SIT) programmes. This constraint on SIT can potentially be addressed by incorporating methoprene, a juv...

The banana fruit fly, Bactrocera musae (Tryon) (Diptera: Tephritidae), is an economically important pest endemic to Australia and mainland Papua New Guinea. The chemistry of its rectal glands, and the volatiles emitted during periods of sexual activity, has not been previously reported. Using gas chromatography–mass spectrometry (GC-MS), we find th...

Backround: Commensal microbes can promote survival and growth of developing insects, and have important fitness implications in adulthood. Insect larvae can acquire commensal microbes through two main routes: by vertical acquisition from maternal deposition of microbes on the eggshells and by horizontal acquisition from the environment where the l...

Tephritid fruit flies are amongst the most significant horticultural pests globally and male chemical lures are important for monitoring and control. Zingerone has emerged as a unique male fruit fly lure that can attract dacine fruit flies that are weakly or non-responsive to methyl eugenol and cuelure. However, the key features of zingerone that m...

Nutrition is a major mediator of insect life-history trait expression. While the role of macronutrient (carbohydrate and protein) balance on trait expression has received substantial attention, the implications of different classes of specific macronutrients remains virtually unexplored. Here, we addressed this gap by varying the type of carbohydra...

Insects typically host substantial microbial communities (the ‘microbiome’) that can serve as a vital source of nutrients and also acts as a modulator of immune function. While recent studies have shown that diet is an important influence on the gut microbiome, very little is known about the dynamics underpinning microbial acquisition from natural...

Insects commonly rely on olfactory, gustatory and visual cues when deciding where to lay eggs. The olfactory cues that stimulate oviposition in the Queensland fruit fly, Bactrocera tryoni (Froggatt) (Diptera: Tephritidae), are not well understood. Here, we show that two known oviposition stimulants of the Oriental fruit fly, Bactrocera dorsalis (He...

Queensland fruit flies Bactrocera tryoni ('Q-fly') have long adult prereproductive development periods, which can present challenges for sterile insect technique (SIT) programs. Holding the sterile flies in release facilities is expensive for control programs. Alternatively, releases of sexually immature males can lead to substantial mortality of s...

Gut bacteria play a key role in insect fitness, but the changes in gut microbiome profile across developmental stages of holometabolous insects remains little explored. Understanding changes in the microbiome across life stages is an important step toward understanding the associated shifts in functional relationships and trade-offs. Here, we chara...

Remating inhibition is an important component of the Darwinian fitness of males and an essential prerequisite for successful insect control strategies based on the sterile insect technique (SIT). In Qfly, sexual inhibition is mediated by male accessory gland products. The aim of my PhD project is to identify the male remating inhibitory molecules a...

The composition of the rectal gland secretion and volatiles emitted by female Queensland fruit fly, Bactrocera tryoni was investigated. Esters were found to be the main compounds in the gland extracts and headspace, while amides were the minor compounds in the gland extracts and headspace. Ethyl dodecanoate, ethyl tetradecanoate, ethyl (Z9)-hexadec...

Sterile insect technique (SIT) for Queensland fruit fly, Bactrocera tryoni Froggatt, Australia’s most economically damaging fruit fly species, is currently undergoing a major renewal and expansion. SIT relies on efficient and economical mass-rearing procedures that produce high-quality flies. Two solid larval diets, carrot and lucerne chaff, have t...

Remating inhibition is an evolutionary phenomenon important for Darwinian fitness of insect populations and pest control strategies based on the sterile insect technique. Sexual inhibition is mediated by male seminal fluid products transferred during mating. My project aims to identify the male accessory gland-derived remating inhibitory molecules...

Multiple predator species that coexist with each other and their mutual prey can have combined effects on prey mortality that are similar to the sum of each predator's individual impact (linear effects), greater than the sum of each predator's individual impact (risk enhancement), or less than the sum of each predator's individual impact (risk redu...

In holometabolous insects, larval nutrition is a key factor underpinning development and fitness. Heterogeneity in the nutritional environment and larval competition can force larvae to forage in suboptimal diets, with potential downstream fitness effects. Little is known about how larvae respond to competitive heterogeneous environments, and wheth...