Embryonic development of the olive fruit fy, Bactrocera oleae Rossi (Diptera: Tephritidae), in vivo

The olive fruit fy, Bactrocera oleae (Rossi) (Diptera: Tephritidae), is a pest that infests olive fruits. Te female oviposits in largegreen olives and larvae hatch inside the fruit, where they feed upon the fruit tissues. Larval development is completed inside the fruit.Tese fies cause great damage to olive production worldwide. Traditionally, insecticides have been directed against the adult stage, butthe results are not efcient. Tis present work is a study of embryogenesis in the olive fruit fy. Te external morphology of the Bactroceraoleae Rossi (Diptera: Tephritidae) egg is described from light microscopy without dechorionation. Te observations were made in vivoand were photographed. Te eggshell of B. oleae contains a smooth chorion with a cup-shaped anterior pole. Te average length of eggsis 0.738 ± 0.01 mm and the average diameter is 0.21 ± 0.06 mm. Te embryonic developmental progress is described as formation of thezygote, blastoderm and gastrulation, and organogenesis. Te embryogenesis is completed within 65 70 h at 25 ± 1 °C under laboratoryconditions. External egg morphology can be useful in estimating the age of B. oleae eggs for purposes such as introducing genes intoembryos by germline transformation in future studies.