Spatio temporal association between sterile and wild males in a Ceratitis capitata SIT programme.

The Mediterranean fruit fly (medfly), Ceratitis capitata, is a key pest for fruit production in the Mediterranean and other areas of the world. With the aim of contributing to knowledge on the management of this pest, the present study analyses the spatial distribution of medfly sterile males released during a pilot application of Sterile Insect Technique (SIT) in a multi-varietal fruit farm in Central Italy. The spatio-temporal distribution was analysed with the Spatial Analyses by Distance Indices (SADIE) methodology. The wild male population and the released sterile males showed an aggregate distribution in the field, even though the latter were released uniformly in the experimental farm. Furthermore, the spatial dispersion of sterile flies mirrored that of the wild flies throughout the entire release period of the sterile males, which lasted about 4 months. This aspect is critical for the correct application of the SIT. These results provide useful insights on the application of sterile males to control medfly populations.