Samuel R Collins

The behaviour and natural history of Megaloastia mainae, a long- legged salticid spider that appears to be endemic to northwest Australia, was investigated under natural conditions in the Kimberley Region of Western Australia. Megaloastia mainae is commonly found on rock escarpments, where it spends most of its time on downward-facing horizontal su...

The sterile insect technique has been routinely used to eradicate fruit fly Bactrocera tryoni (Froggatt) incursions. This study considers whether fly quality in a mass-rearing facility can be improved by reducing irradiation doses, without sacrificing reproductive sterility. Pupae were exposed to one of five target irradiation dose ranges: 0, 40‐45...

BACKGROUND The Sterile Insect Technique (SIT) requires vast numbers of consistently high quality insects to be produced over long periods. Quality control (QC) procedures are critical to effective SIT, both providing quality assurance and warning of operational deficiencies. We here present a potential new QC assay for mass rearing of Queensland fr...

The sterile insect technique (SIT) is a non-chemical approach used to control major pests from several insect families, including Tephritidae, and entails the mass-release of sterile insects that reduce fertility of wild populations. For SIT to succeed, released sterile males must mature and compete with wild males to mate with wild females. To rea...

Post-teneral diets containing yeast hydrolysate are reported to increase longevity, reproductive development and sexual performance of Queensland fruit fly (‘Q-fly’) Bactrocera tryoni Froggatt (Diptera: Tephritidae). Consequently, diets including yeast hydrolysate are recommended for sterile Q-flies before release in sterile insect technique (SIT)...

The response of eukaryotic cells to ionising radiation (IR)-induced double-strand DNA breaks is highly conserved and involves a DNA repair mechanism characterised by the early phosphorylation of histone protein H2AX (pro-ducing the active form γH2AX). Although the expression of an induced γH2AX variant has been detected in Drosophila melanogaster,...

The response of eukaryotic cells to ionising radiation (IR)-induced double-strand DNA breaks is highly conserved and involves a DNA repair mechanism characterised by the early phosphorylation of histone protein H2AX (producing the active form γH2AX). Although the expression of an induced γH2AX variant has been detected in Drosophila melanogaster, t...

Cost-effective options for post-harvest disinfestation of horticultural produce are being severely depleted by withdrawal of key chemical treatments. This could result in significant negative impact on international markets requiring consistent delivery of high quality, pest-free produce. Meanwhile, approval of irradiation as a disinfestation techn...

Females of many tephritid fruit flies can mate more than once, and can store ejaculates from multiple males. As well as being an important element of reproductive biology, multiple mating by females is of particular relevance for sterile insect technique programs used to control major tephritid pests. Here we investigate the consequences of multipl...

Pupae of the Queensland fruit fly or Q‐fly Bactrocera tryoni (Froggatt) are irradiated routinely to induce reproductive sterility in adults for use in sterile insect technique programmes. Previous studies suggest that adult sexual performance and survival under nutritional and crowding stress are compromised by the current target dose of radiation...

Adult Queensland fruit flies, Bactrocera tryoni (Froggatt), require adequate post-teneral nutrition to complete reproductive development, to perform sexually and for maximum longevity. Recent research has focussed on nutritional requirements of adults released in sterile insect technique (SIT) programmes that are used to manage these pests. Several...

The current study is an important step toward calibrating, validating, and improving irradiation methods used for Bactrocera tryoni (Froggatt) sterile insect technique (SIT). We used routine International Atomic Energy Agency/U.S. Department of Agriculture/Food and Agriculture Organization quality control tests assessing percentage of emergence, fl...

The mating performance field cage test is a required periodic quality-control assessment for factory-reared fruit flies used for the sterile insect technique. The FAO/IAEA/USDA guidelines for assessing fly quality state that if during tests a large proportion of flies call and mate on cage walls, away from host trees, then environmental conditions...

1 Recent studies have shown that continuous access to a protein source (yeast hydrolysate) can greatly enhance the sexual performance of male Queensland fruit flies (Bactrocera tryoni; ‘Q-flies’). However, in Sterile Insect Technique programmes used to eradicate or suppress wild populations, mass-reared Q-flies are typically fed only sucrose and wa...

Queensland fruit fly (Bactrocera tryoni; Q-fly) pupae are routinely irradiated to induce reproductive sterility in adults released in a sterile insect technique programme. Although there have been some studies of how total dose influences fly quality, dose rate has not been considered. In the present study, pupae were irradiated at a target dose ra...