Register      Login
Animal Production Science Animal Production Science Society
Food, fibre and pharmaceuticals from animals
RESEARCH ARTICLE

Short- and long-range dispersal of the Queensland fruit fly, Bactrocera tryoni and its relevance to invasive potential, sterile insect technique and surveillance trapping

A. Meats A B and J. E. Edgerton A
+ Author Affiliations
- Author Affiliations

A School of Biological Sciences, University of Sydney, NSW 2006, Australia.

B Corresponding author. Email: awm@bio.usyd.edu.au

Australian Journal of Experimental Agriculture 48(9) 1237-1245 https://doi.org/10.1071/EA07291
Submitted: 22 August 2007  Accepted: 30 April 2008   Published: 7 August 2008

Abstract

Dispersal of immature and sexually mature Queensland fruit fly, Bactrocera tryoni (Froggatt) from releases made at a single point was assessed from recapture rates obtained by using arrays of traps. The recapture data (pertaining to distances up to 480 m) fitted both logarithmic and Cauchy models although the fits for the releases of immature flies were inferior because of high variability in catches at certain distances. When combined with data previously published for longer distances, a Cauchy model fitted data for releases of immature flies well and indicated that the median distance dispersed after emerging from the puparium was ~120 m and that 90% of flies would displace less than 800 m despite the fact that a consistent trend in declining catch rates can be obtained up to at least 85 km. This is consistent with the tail of the Cauchy distribution having a slope congruent with a negative power curve and thus being scale invariant for longer distances. The distribution of recaptured flies that were released as adults also fitted a Cauchy model with a tail of the same slope, suggesting that the spatial distribution of long-distance dispersers is not only scale invariant but also age invariant. This has significance to the ability of surveillance trapping arrays to detect infestations and also to methods of distributing insects for the sterile insect technique. Whereas the spread of invading propagules in the first generation is likely to be limited by a decline to non-viable density within 1 km or less of the incursion point, the influence of larger infestations on nearby uninfested regions would be limited by the longevity of the dispersers.

Additional keywords: cue lure, Lévy flights.


Acknowledgements

The authors thank Swada (London) Ltd, for donating fluorescent pigment samples for the marking of flies and also thank the Centre for Horticulture and Plant Science, The University of Western Sydney, for use of their orchards on the Hawkesbury Campus.


References


Albrectsen B, Nachman G (2001) Female-biased density-dependent dispersal of a tephritid fly in a fragmented habitat and its implications for population regulation. Oikos 94, 263–272.
Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar | open url image1

Allee WC (1931) ‘Animal aggregations. A study of general sociology.’ (University of Chicago Press: Chicago, IL)

Allee WC, Emerson AE, Park O, Park T, Schmidt KP (1949) ‘Principles of animal ecology.’ (WB Saunders: Philadelphia, PA)

Atkinson RPD, Rhodes CJ, Macdonald DW, Anderson RM (2002) Scale-free dynamics in the movement patterns of jackals. Oikos 98, 134–140.
Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar | open url image1

Bateman MA (1977) Dispersal and species interaction as factors in the establishment and success of tropical fruit flies in new areas. Proceedings of the Ecological Society of Australia 10, 106–112. open url image1

Boyer D, Ramos-Fernández G, Miramontes O, Mateos JL, Cocho G, Larralde H, Ramos H, Rojas F (2006) Scale-free foraging by primates emerges from their interaction with a complex environment. Proceedings of the Royal Society Society B 273, 1743–1750.
Crossref |
open url image1

Caughley G, Sinclair ARE (1994) ‘Wildlife ecology and management.’ (Blackwell Science: Cambridge, MA)

Clift AD, Meats A, Gleeson PJ (1998) A dispersal model for papaya fruit fly Bactrocera papayae Drew and Hancock and its application to treatment priorities in an eradication protocol. In ‘Pest management – future challenges. Vol. 2. Proceedings of 6th Australian Applied Entomology Research Conference, Brisbane, Australia’. (Eds MP Zalucki, RAI Drew, GG White) pp. 27–31. (Australian Entomological Society)

Cowley JM, Page FD, Nimmo PR, Cowley DR (1990) Comparison of the effectiveness of two traps for Bactrocera tryoni (Froggatt) (Diptera: Tephritidae) and implications for quarantine surveillance systems. Journal of the Australian Entomological Society 29, 171–176.
Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar | open url image1

Cunningham RT, Couey HM (1986) Mediterranean fruit fly (Diptera: Tephritidae): distance/response curves to trimedlure to measure trapping efficiency. Environmental Entomology 15, 71–74. open url image1

Dalby-Ball G, Meats A (2002) The role of foliage in differential landing of the Queensland fruit fly, Bactrocera tryoni (Froggatt) (Diptera: Tephritidae) on odoriferous and odourless fruit models. General and Applied Entomology 31, 31–34. open url image1

Dennis B, Munholland PL, Scott JM (1991) Estimation of growth and extinction parameters for endangered species. Ecological Monographs 61, 115–144.
Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar | open url image1

Dominiak BC, Mavi HS, Nicol HI (2006) Effect of town microclimate on the Queensland fruit fly Bactrocera tryoni. Australian Journal of Experimental Agriculture 46, 1239–1249.
Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar | open url image1

Drew RAI (1987) Behavioural strategies of fruit flies of the genus Dacus (Diptera: Tephritidae) significant in mating and host-plant relationships. Bulletin of Entomological Research 77, 73–82. open url image1

Drew RAI, Prokopy RJ, Romig MC (2003) Attraction of fruit flies of the genus Bactrocera to colored mimics of host fruit. Entomologia Experimentalis et Applicata 107, 39–45.
Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar | open url image1

Dytham C, Travis JMJ (2006) Evolving dispersal and age at death. Oikos 113, 530–538.
Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar | open url image1

Etienne R, Wertheim B, Hemerik L, Schneider P, Powell J (2002) The interaction between dispersal, the Allee effect and scramble competition affects population dynamics. Ecological Modelling 148, 153–168.
Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar | open url image1

Fletcher BS (1973) The ecology of a natural population of the Queensland fruit fly, Dacus tryoni. V. The dispersal of adults. Australian Journal of Zoology 21, 541–565.
Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar | open url image1

Gilbert M, Gregoire JC, Freise JF, Heitland W (2004) Long-distance dispersal and human population density allow the prediction of invasive patterns in the horse chestnut leafminer Cameraria ohridella. Journal of Animal Ecology 73, 459–468.
Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar | open url image1

Hastings A, Cuddington K, Davies KF, Dugaw CJ, Elmendorf S , et al. (2005) The spatial spread of invasions: new developments in theory and evidence. Ecology Letters 8, 91–101.
Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar | open url image1

Hill JK, Thomas CD, Lewis OT (1996) Effects of habitat patch size and isolation on dispersal by Hesperia comma butterflies: implications for metapopulation structure. Journal of Animal Ecology 65, 725–735.
Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar | open url image1

Hopper KR, Roush RT (1993) Mate finding, dispersal, number released and the success of biological control introductions. Ecological Entomology 18, 321–331.
Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar | open url image1

Johnson CG (1969) ‘Migration and dispersal of insects by flight.’ (Methuen: London)

Jones TH, Godfray HCJ, Hassell MP (1996) Relative movement patterns of a tephritid fly and its parasitoid wasps. Oecologia 106, 317–324.
Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar | open url image1

Kokko H, López-Sepulcre A (2006) From individual dispersal to species ranges: perspectives for a changing world. Science 313, 789–791.
Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar | CAS | PubMed | open url image1

Kot M, Lewis MA, Van Den Driessche P (1996) Dispersal data and the spread of invading organisms. Ecology 77, 2027–2042.
Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar | open url image1

MacFarlane JR, East RW, Drew RAI, Betlinski GA (1987) Dispersal of irradiated Queensland fruit flies, Dacus tryoni (Froggatt) (Diptera: Tephritidae), in south-eastern Australia. Australian Journal of Zoology 35, 275–281.
Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar | open url image1

Maelzer DA, Bailey PT, Perepelicia N (2004) Factors supporting the non-persistence of fruit fly populations in South Australia. Australian Journal of Experimental Agriculture 44, 109–126.
Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar | open url image1

Mayer DG, Atzeni MG (1993) Estimation of dispersal distances for Cochliomyia hominivorax (Diptera: Calliphoridae). Environmental Entomology 22, 368–374. open url image1

Meats A (1998a) The power of trapping grids for detecting and estimating the size of invading propagules of the Queensland fruit fly risks of subsequent infestation. General and Applied Entomology 28, 47–55. open url image1

Meats A (1998b) Predicting or interpreting trap catches resulting from natural propagules or releases of sterile fruit flies. An actuarial and dispersal model tested with data on Bactrocera tryoni. General and Applied Entomology 28, 29–38. open url image1

Meats A (2007) Dispersion of fruit flies (Diptera: Tephritidae) at high and low densities and consequences to SIT of mismatching dispersions of wild and sterile flies. The Florida Entomologist 29, 136–146. open url image1

Meats A, Clift AD (2005) Zero catch criteria for declaring eradication of tephritid fruit flies: the probabilities. Australian Journal of Experimental Agriculture 45, 1335–1340.
Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar | open url image1

Meats A, Smallridge CJ (2007) Short- and long-range dispersal of Medfly, Ceratitis capitata (Diptera: Tephritidae) and its invasive potential Journal of Applied Entomology 131, 518–523.
Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar | open url image1

Meats A, Maheswaran P, Frommer M, Sved J (2002) Towards a male-only release system for SIT with the Queensland fruit fly, Bactrocera tryoni, using a genetic sexing strain with a temperature-sensitive lethal mutation. Genetica 116, 97–106.
Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar | CAS | PubMed | open url image1

Meats A, Clift AD, Robson MK (2003a) Incipient founder populations of Mediterranean and Queensland fruit flies in Australia: the relation of trap catch to infestation radius and models for quarantine radius. Australian Journal of Experimental Agriculture 43, 397–406.
Crossref |
open url image1

Meats A, Duthie R, Clift AD, Dominiak BC (2003b) Trials with variants of the Sterile Insect Technique (SIT) for suppression of populations of the Queensland fruit fly in small towns neighbouring a quarantine (exclusion) zone. Australian Journal of Experimental Agriculture 43, 389–395.
Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar | open url image1

Meats A, Holmes HM, Kelly GL (2004) Laboratory adaptation of Bactrocera tryoni (Diptera: Tephritidae) decreases mating age and increases protein consumption and number of eggs produced per mg of protein. Bulletin of Entomological Research 94, 517–524.
Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar | CAS | PubMed | open url image1

Meats A, Smallridge CJ, Dominiak BC (2006) Dispersion theory and the sterile insect technique: application to two species of fruit fly. Entomologia Experimentalis et Applicata 119, 247–254.
Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar | open url image1

Muirhead JR, Leung B, van Overdijk C, Kelly DW, Nandakumar K, Marchant KR, MacIsaac HJ (2006) Modelling local and long-distance dispersal of invasive emerald ash borer Agrilus planipennis (Coleoptera) in North America. Diversity & Distributions 12, 71–79.
Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar | open url image1

Neubert MG, Caswell H (2000) Demography and dispersal: calculation and sensitivity analysis of invasion speed for structured populations. Ecology 81, 1613–1628. open url image1

Paradis E, Baillie SR, Sutherland WJ (2002) Modeling large-scale dispersal distances. Ecological Modelling 151, 279–292. open url image1

Plant RE, Cunningham RT (1991) Analyses of the dispersal of sterile Mediterranean fruit flies (Diptera: Tephritidae) released from a point source. Environmental Entomology 20, 1493–1503. open url image1

Ramos-Fernandez G, Mateos JL, Miramontes O , et al. (2004) Levy walk patterns in the foraging movements of spider monkeys (Ateles geoffroyi). Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology 55, 223–230.
Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar | open url image1

Riis L, Nachman G (2006) Migration, trapping and local dynamics of whiteflies (Homoptera: Aleyrodidae). Agricultural and Forest Entomology 8, 233–241.
Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar | open url image1

Roslin T (2000) Dung beetle movements at two spatial scales. Oikos 91, 323–335.
Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar | open url image1

Snedecor GW, Cochran WG ((1989) ) ‘Statistical methods.’ 8th edn. (Iowa State University Press: Ames, IA)

South AB, Kenward RE (2001) Mate finding, dispersal distances and population growth in invading species: a spatially explicit model. Oikos 95, 53–58.
Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar | open url image1

Southwood TRE, Henderson PA (2000) ‘Ecological methods.’ 3rd edn. (Blackwell: Oxford)

Steiner LF (1965) A rapid method for identifying dye-marked fruit flies. Journal of Economic Entomology 58, 374–375. open url image1

Stiling P (1993) Why do natural enemies fail in classical biological control programs? American Entomologist 39, 31–37. open url image1

Sutherst RW, Collyer BS, Yonow T (2000) The vulnerability of Australian horticulture to the Queensland fruit fly, Bactrocera (Dacus) tryoni, under climate change. Australian Journal of Agricultural Research 51, 467–480.
Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar | open url image1

Taylor CM, Hastings A (2005) Allee effects in biological invasions. Ecology Letters 8, 895–908.
Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar | open url image1

Travis JMJ, Hammershoj M, Stephenson C (2005) Adaptation and propagule pressure determine invasion dynamics: insights from a spatially explicit model for sexually reproducing species. Evolutionary Ecology Research 7, 37–51. open url image1

Travis MJ, Dytham D (1999) Habitat persistence, habitat availability and the evolution of dispersal. Proceedings of the Royal Society B 266, 723–728.
Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar | open url image1

Van Dyck H, Baguette M (2005) Dispersal behaviour in fragmented landscapes: routine or special movements? Basic and Applied Ecology 6, 535–545.
Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar | open url image1

Veit RR, Lewis MA (1996) Dispersal, population growth and the Allee effect: dynamics of the house finch invasion of Eastern North America. American Naturalist 148, 255–274.
Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar | open url image1

Viswanathan GM, Afanasyev V, Buldyrev SV, Murphy EJ, Prince PA, Stanley HE (1996) Lévy flight search patterns of wandering albatrosses. Nature 381, 413–415.
Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar | CAS | open url image1

Weldon CW (2003) Effectiveness of coloured unbaited sticky traps for monitoring dispersal of gamma-irradiated Queensland fruit fly Bactrocera tryoni (Froggatt) (Diptera: Tephritidae). General and Applied Entomology 32, 55–60. open url image1

Weldon CW, Meats A (2007) Short-range dispersal of recently emerged males and females of Bactrocera tryoni (Froggatt) (Diptera: Tephritidae) monitored by sticky sphere traps with protein odour and pot traps with male lure. Australian Journal of Entomology 46, 160–166.
Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar | open url image1

White IM, Elson-Harris MM (1994) ‘Fruit flies of economic significance: their identification and bionomics.’ (CAB International: Oxon, UK)

Whitmire SL, Tobin PC (2006) Persistence of invading gypsy moth populations in the United States. Oecologia 147, 230–237.
Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar | PubMed | open url image1

Winkler DW, Wrege PH, Allen PE, Last KL, Senesac P, Wasson MF, Sullivan PJ (2005) The natal dispersal of tree swallows in a continuous mainland environment. Journal of Animal Ecology 74, 1080–1090.
Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar | open url image1

Wong TTY, Whitehand LC, Kobayashi RM, Ohinata K, Tanaka N, Harris EJ (1982) Mediterranean fruit fly: dispersal of wild and irradiated and untreated laboratory-reared males. Environmental Entomology 11, 339–343. open url image1

Yonow T, Sutherst RW (1998) The geographical distribution of the Queensland fruit fly, Bactrocera (Dacus) tryoni, in relation to climate. Australian Journal of Agricultural Research 49, 935–953.
Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar | open url image1