Completed project
Larval diets for high-productivity mass-rearing of Queensland fruit fly (HG13045)
Key research provider: Macquarie University
Publication date: Sunday, October 7, 2018
What was it all about?
High quality, reliable, and cost-effective larval diets are a core requirement of any sterile insect technique (SIT) program, and a need was identified for the development of new approaches to larval diets for Queensland fruit fly.
This project developed a prototype gel larval diet that is currently in the process of scale-up trials prior to uptake in the Port Augusta SITplus facility. Fitout of the new factory has incorporated physical design based on this newly-developed gel diet.
Future research will optimise the chosen diet for increased productivity and for reduced component cost and will examine the potential value of probiotic bacteria as supplements in larval diets.
Meet the team and learn more about the project in the video below: