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.

Flies that are homozygous for the recessive autosomal mutation bent wings have a limited ability to fly and are less tolerant of high temperatures than normal flies in both the egg and puparial stages. The differences between the mutant and normal flies were found sufficient to be the basis of a genetic sexing strain. Genetic sexing strains were created using translocations of the autosome bearing the wild-type allele of bent wings (chromosome 2) to the Y chromosome, and crossing male flies carrying the translocation to mutant bent wings females. In the resulting strain, the females were homozygous for the bent wings mutation and the males were phenotypically normal for wing characters. Several translocations were recovered after irradiation, but only one translocation involving chromosome 2 was both stable and expressed in a stock that was vigorous enough for long-term viability. Unfortunately, all stocks containing the translocation showed high levels of temperature-dependent lethality, including, inexplicably, both males and females. Translocation stocks showing this effect included bent wings, another second chromosome mutation, white marks, and an otherwise normal stock. This phenomenon is probably rare, as it has not been reported before. It is likely that bent wings could be suitably used with another translocation.