Sperm use in the highly invasive fruit fly pest species Ceratitis capitata.

The medfly, Ceratitis capitata, is considered one of the world’s most destructive agricultural pests. The female remating tendency and the last-male precedence are common in medfly wild populations, suggesting that sperm coming from different mates can be used in the fertilisation process following different patterns. The mechanisms of sperm use and storage in medfly are actually under investigation. In this perspective, the availability of a sperm marking system may be helpful to follow the pathway of the spermatozoa, from spermatogenesis in males’ testes to ova fertilization in female reproductive tract.