Development of artificial larval diets for West Indian fruit fly (Diptera: Tephritidae)

Two artificial larval diets were developed for the West Indian fruit fly Anastrepha obliqua (Macquart). One was a papaya diet containing torula yeast, corn flour, fresh papaya pulp, and sugar; this diet provided essential nutrients needed for larval development and produced sufficient numbers of flies for further testing. The other, a casein diet, included torula yeast, corn flour, casein, sugar, minerals, and vitamins. The use of casein was a suitable replacement for papaya; pupal production increased 1.5 times. We reared A. obliqua for 24 generations in papaya diet and 39 generations in the casein diet without loss of fecundity. Two other diets containing defatted soy flour or dehydrated pea powder in place of casein, produced similar numbers of pupae as the papaya diet. Raw or stabilized wheat germ inhibited larval development. When crude lipids were removed from wheat germ, recoveries of larvae, pupae, and adults were similar as in the casein diet. Addition of low amounts of Beck's salt mixture to casein diet increased adult recovery compared with the control, but salt concentrations >0.1% significantly decreased recoveries of larvae, pupae, and adults. Addition of vitamins to casein diet were not proven essential in the generation tested.