Abai, MR

6th International Congress of DipterologyWolbachia infection in Liriomyza trifolii and its potential as atool in insect pest controlTagami, Y. (1), K. Sugiyama (1), M. Doi (1), A. Tatara (1) & T. Saito (2)(1) Plant Entomology Laboratory, Shizuoka Agricultural Experiment Station, Iwata,Shizuoka 438-0803, Japan(2) Faculty of Agriculture, Shizuoka University, Shizuoka 422-8529, JapanIn Japan, the leafminer Liriomyza trifolii is an important insect pest.We detected the Wolbachia strains in L. trifolii populations andinvestigated the effect of Wolbachia infection on the host L. trifolii. Anuninfected female never produced offspring on mating with an infectedmale, implying that Wolbachia induced strong cytoplasmic incompatibilityagainst L. trifolii.Kaspi and Parrella (2003) developed a new method for controllingLiriomyza populations. They considered the simultaneous use of a naturalenemy (Diglyphus isaea) and sterile L. trifolii treated by radiation. AWolbachia-infected male acts as a sterile male when mated with anuninfected female and is useful against uninfected populations. It isconvenient to use infected strains because unlike the irradiated strains,infected strains do not need to irradiation for subsequent generations tofunction as sterile males.Only few populations of L. trifolii were infected with Wolbachia inJapan, and Wolbachia infections have never been reported in othercountries. Moreover, Wolbachia strains possibly transfect other hostspecies such as L. sativae or L. huidobrensis. Thus, Wolbachia strains thatinfect L. trifolii can be used as a tool in insect pest control.Key Words: Liriomyza, Wolbachia, cytoplasmic incompatibility, sterileinsect technique∗∗∗∗∗∗∗∗∗∗258