A Rapid Method for Identifying Dye-Marked Fruit Flies2

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Abstract
Identification of 3 species of tephritid flies, marked and placed in the field while in the pupal stage and later recovered as adults, was greatly facilitated by crushing the heads on filter paper over a glass plate with a threaded, flat-tipped carriage bolt wet with acetone. The heads contained an oil-soluble dye that had been retracted on the ptilinum immediately after emergence. The dye is soluble in acetone and leaves a spot on the filter paper when the head is crushed. The rapid method permitted identification of more than 1800 trap collections, or 50-fly samples representing 300,000 marked, recaptured flies of 60 million released in the Mariana Islands in 1962-63.

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