“Key Informant Survey” of Production, Value, Losses and ... - DfID

Section 11: Physiology and Biochemistry
Fly Authors Date Location Summary
B. cucurbitae Kaur and 1995 The effect of minerals on the reproductive potential of Bactrocera cucurbitae was studied. In the absence of minerals from the
Srivastava
diet, oviposition period, longevity, egg deposition, number of oviposition peaks and egg viability were drastically reduced (by
34.00 days, 24.70 days, 2987.70 eggs (two-thirds), 4.33 peaks and 21.13%, resp.), leading to a considerable reduction in the
reproductive potential of the pest. Thus, minerals are extremely important for normal reproduction of B. cucurbitae.
B. dorsalis Prasad and Sethi 1980 The effects of various doses of gamma-irradiation on the haemolymph protein content of adults of B. dorsalis Hend. were
studied in Laboratory. It was found that irradiation with doses up to 15 kR did not appreciably change the haemolymph protein
content; but irradiation with 24 kR resulted in an increase in protein content from 3.116 to 3.661 g/100 ml haemolymph in males
and from 2.826 to 3.995 g/100 ml haemolymph in females 4 days after treatment, and the content increased further to 3.773 g
in males and 4.215 g in females when analysed 10 days after treatment. This increase in the concentration of haemolym ph
protein indicated that there was no degradation of the protein in adults of D. dorsalis treated with high doses of radiation.
B. dorsalis Prasad and Sethi 1980 The effects of various doses of gamma-irradiation on peroxidase activity in adults of B. dorsalis Hend. were studied in the
laboratory in India. It was found that there was little difference in enzyme activity between untreated insects and those
irradiated with 10 kR. However, a slight reduction was observed 30 days after treatment with 15 kR in the fore-gut region and
20 days after treatment in the mid-gut region. A significant reduction in peroxidase activity was observed after treatment with 20
kR in all regions of the gut in both sexes of D. dorsalis.
B. dorsalis Prasad and Sethi 1980 A laboratory study was carried out to determine the effect of gamma -irradiation on lipase activity in adults of B. dorsalis Hend.
The insects were treated with 10, 15 and 20 kR and it was found that the lowest dose had no significant effect on the activity of
the enzyme, whereas the 2 higher doses resulted in considerable reductions in activity in all regions of the gut, the maximum
reduction being observed 10 days after treatment. The pattern of lipase activity was almost identical in males and females,
except that in females the enzyme was initially slightly more active than in males in all the gut regions.
B. dorsalis Prasad and Sethi 1980 Studies carried out in the laboratory on the effect of gamma-radiation doses between 1 and 20 kR on third-instar larvae and
mature pupae of B. dorsalis Hend. revealed that the treatment had a pronounced effect on the development of these stages,
the effect being dose-dependent. Irradiation of larvae and pupae with the highest dose (20 kR) of gamma -radiation resulted in
31.50 and 64% adult emergence, respectively.
Integrated Management of Fruit Flies in India: Knowledge Review 54 of 110