Phytophagous insects of the genus Bactrocera are among the most economically important invasive fruit fly pests. In 2003, an unknown Bactrocera species was found in Kenya. First identified as an ‘aberrant form’ of the Asian B. dorsalis complex, it was later recognized as a new species, Bactrocera invadens . Within 2 years of its discovery, the species was recorded in several African countries, becoming an important quarantine...

The phytophagous insects of the Tephritidae family offer different case histories of successful invasions. An example is Bactrocera dorsalis sensu stricto , the oriental fruit fly which has been recognized as a key pest of Asia and the Pacific. It is known to have the potential to establish adventive populations in various tropical and subtropical areas. Despite the economic risk associated with a putative stable presence of t...

As a result of their rapid expansion and large larval host range, true fruit flies are among the world's most important agricultural pest species. Among them, Ceratitis capitata has become a model organism for studies on colonization and invasion processes. The genetic aspects of the medfly invasion process have already been analysed throughout its range, with the exception of Australia. Bioinvasion into Australia is an old ev...

A set of 10 microsatellite markers was used to survey the levels of genetic variability and to analyse the genetic aspects of the population dynamics of two potentially invasive pest fruit fly species, Ceratitis rosa and C. fasciventris, in Africa. The loci were derived from the closely related species, C. capitata . The degree of microsatellite polymorphism in C. rosa and C. fasciventris was extensive and comparable to that o...

Accurate estimates of remating in wild female insects are required for an understanding of the causes of variation in remating between individuals, populations and species. Such estimates are also of profound importance for major economic fruit pests such as the Mediterranean fruit fly ( Ceratitis capitata ). A major method for the suppression of this pest is the sterile insect technique (SIT), which relies on matings between...

The Mediterranean fruit fly, Ceratitis capitata , is a destructive agricultural pest with a long history of invasion success. This pest has been affecting different regions of the United States for the past 30 years, but a number of studies of medfly bioinfestations has focused on the situation in California. Although some progress has been made in terms of establishing the origin of infestations, the overall status of this pe...

Samples of seven of the 10 morphological species of midges of the Culicoides imicola complex were considered. The importance of this species complex is connected to its vectorial capacity for African horse sickness virus (AHSV) and bluetongue virus (BTV). Consequently, the risk of transmission may vary dramatically, depending upon the particular cryptic species present in a given area. The species complex is confined to the Ol...

The exon‐primed intron‐crossing (EPIC) PCR technique was used to analyse the size variation at the first intron of the Ceratitis capitata Adh 1 gene. A total of 27 samples from 16 natural populations was analysed from five geographical regions in the species range: Africa, Mediterranean Basin, Latin America, Hawaii and Australia. The Adh 1 first intron varies extensively in length with at least 18 size variants ranging from 14...