Field cage release of sterile Queensland fruit fly (Bactrocera tryoni (Froggatt))

Abstract

Field cages were trialled as an alternative, low resource method of releasing sterile fruit fly. For the whole trial, there was an average emergence of 51.77% from cages which included cages of sub-optimal loadings and a recapture rate of sterile males of 0.0677%. The field cage release system gave acceptable results (74.7% emergence) so long as the depth of pupae did not exceed 9 mm (approximately 0.8 million per cage). These results compare favourably with the results of other Qfly trials.