ABSTRACT
The nutritional quality of diet is of great importance in this system because it provides energy and all essential nutrients for insect performance. The nutrients that must be supplied in food are essentially the same in all insects because, in general, the metabolic machine is remarkably uniform among and between species. The nutritional profile of the artificial diet used for the olive fruit fly was found to be quite different, in certain respects, than that of the natural food. The biochemical genetics and the enzyme systems of the olive fruit fly have been reviewed and discussed recently by E. Zouros and M. Loukas. Hatchability of eggs obtained from wild type (WT) adults laid on oviposition parafine devices was consistently lower than hatchability of eggs obtained from WT adults laid in olives or from well adapted laboratory type insects. Nutrition probably acted as an environmental factor, as a selection factor, or in combination.
