[en] One of the fruit flies of major concern, because of its economic and quarantine importance in the Americas, is the exotic Mediterranean fruit fly, Ceratitis capitata, which is established throughout the Central and South American countries, excluding Chile. Chile, Mexico and the USA have conducted multi-million dollar campaigns to prevent the establishment of this and other exotic fruit flies in their respective territories, in support of the development of important fruit production and export industries. Other important fruit fly species, which are native to the American continent, are those of the genus Anastrepha. In this group, of most economic importance are A. obliqua and A. ludens for Mexico and some Central American countries and A. fraterculus and A. obliqua for South America. In this publication, attention is focused on A. fraterculus, the South American fruit fly. This species, as it is presently recognized, occurs from Mexico to Argentina and is reported from approximately 80 host plants, including commercial fruits of economic importance, such as mango, citrus, guava, apple and coffee. As A. fraterculus if considered to be of high economic and quarantine importance in many countries in South America, it is justifiable to recommend and promote the implementation of activities to strengthen knowledge of the species and develop techniques for its control and/or eradication. The development of sterile insect technique (SIT) and other biological control methods are very encouraging alternatives, as can be seen from examples in Mexico and the USA, where these approaches are in use against A. ludens and A. obliqua

[en] Anastrepha fraterculus, the South American fruit fly, is the most common and economically important pest for the fruit-bearing species in the Neotropical region. However, there are some species that are close to A. fraterculus and, sometimes they can be erroneously identified as A. fraterculus. The separation of A. fraterculus from A. obliqua, A. sororcula and A. zenildae, species closely related to South American fruit fly, is discussed. Also, information on the host plants and braconid parasitoids for A. fraterculus in Brazil is presented. (author)

[en] In order to reduce the program operating expenses in the South Texas Mexican Fruit Fly Sterile Release Program, four cost reduction initiatives are in progress at the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Mexican Fruit Fly Rearing Facility. These initiatives include implementation of a less expensive larval diet formulation, automation of the larval diet dispensing process, processing and reutilization of spent larval diet medium, and a more efficient system for emerging and feeding sterile flies prior to field release. (author)

[en] The objective of this study was to evaluate the fruit fly infestation on coffee and citrus, and also to determine gamma radiation doses for immature stages of Ceratitis capitata and Anastrepha fraterculus, in order to satisfy quarantine regulations. Coffee arabica varieties Icatu Vermelho, Catuai Amarelo, Mundo Novo and Sarchimor showed the highest infestation indices (pupa/berry): 0.53; 0,41; 0.33 and 0.36. respectively Icatu Vermelho and Catuai Vermelho showed the highest values of pupa/berry weight (0.49 and 0.39, respectively), and Robusta (Coffea canephora) presented the lowest index (0.01). The following fruit flies were found in coffee berries: C. capitata (76.6%) Anastrepha spp. (7.4%) and Lonchaeidae (17.0%). In area near coffee plantation, fruit fly infestation indices in sweet oranges were of 4.77 larvae/kg and 0.55 larva/fruit. The infestation indices for sweet orange, collected from five regions of the State of Sao Paulo ranged from 0.73 to 7.60 pupa/kg and 0.12 to 1.27 pupa/fruit. The same species of fruit flies were found in oranges. In the case of C. capitata eggs with 24-48 hours old, 20 Gy prevented completely adult emergence (artificial diet and orange). No emergence of adult occurred when C. capitata larvae of third instar were irradiated at 20 Gy in their rearing medium. But at 25 Gy, the number of adults was reduced by 54% and 97% from larval infestation in oranges and grapefruit, respectively. A dose of 30 Gy was required to prevent medfly emergence from third instar larvae in grapefruit. A dose of 15 Gy was required for third instar, to prevent adult emergence of A. fraterculus. No adult emerged from C third instar, to prevent adult emergence of A. fraterculus. No adult emerged from C capitata pre-pupa irradiated at 30 Gy. One medfly adult emerged from pupa (3-4 days after pupating) irradiated at 120 Gy. At the same dose, sixteen A. fraterculus adults emergency from irradiated pupa with 5-6 days old. (author)

[en] The sterile insect technique for the Oriental fruit fly was pilot tested in Naoway, a 12-ha islet about 1.5 km. southeast of Guimaras island. The Oriental fruit fly population (male) in the islet was first estimated at 3,432 using the mark-release-recapture experiments. From August to October 1995, six releases of sterile fruit flies (male and female) at biweekly intervals were conducted in the islet. Except for the 7 wild fruit flies collected by a trap 10 days after the first release, not a single fly was collected from the pilot site thereafter. Furthermore, field collections of infested fruits yield only 6 pupae on the first and zero on the subsequent collections. The results suggested that SIT proved successful in Naoway islet. For Guimaras, an island-wide implementation of SIT could be undertaken after reducing the wild male fruit fly population by field sanitation and the male annihilation method in order to overflood the wild population with sterile fruit flies. (Author)

[en] Fresh horticultural produce from tropical and sub-tropical areas often harbours insects and mites and are quarantined by importing countries. Such commodities cannot gain access to countries which have strict quarantine regulations such as Australia, Japan, New Zealand and the United States of America unless treated by an approved method/procedure to eliminate such pests. Current approved methods include fumigation by methyl bromide, hot water dip, vapour heat, dried heat and irradiation. Methyl bromide is being phased out globally under the Montreal Protocol in view of its strong ozone depleting properties. Countries such as the USA and those of the European Union are required to phase out the production of this chemical by the year 2005. Among other phytosanitary treatments, irradiation appears to have an edge as it is more versatile in controlling various pests and causes insignificant changes in quality of the treated products. The CRP on Irradiation as a Quarantine Treatment of Mites, Nematodes and Insects other than Fruit Flies, in operation between 1992 and 1997, attempted to fill the gap of information on the effectiveness of irradiation against other quarantine pests. Significant data were generated by this CRP to demonstrate that a minimum dose of between 200 and 400 Gy would render a number of non-fruit fly insects and mites sterile, thus meeting quarantine requirements. However, only a limited species of insects and mites were studied. Additional data are required to provide conclusive evidence that such a dose would render most, if not all, species of non-fruit fly insects and mites sterile. Plant parasitic nematodes appear to be resistant to irradiation as the dose required to render them sterile would cause damage to fresh horticultural commodities. Irradiation would be a useful quarantine treatment against this pest only for durable commodities such as pot soil, wood products, etc. This publication presents the research results of the CRP presented at the final FAO/IAEA Research Co-ordination Meeting hosted by the College of Tropical Agriculture and Human Resources, University of Hawaii at Manoa, and Department of Agriculture, State of Hawaii, held in Honolulu, Hawaii, from 3 to 7 November 1997

[en] Practical application of the sterile insect technique (SIT) against major insect pests will continue to increase as the repeated use of insecticides is recognized as an environmental problem. In the case of the Mediterranean fruit fly (medfly), which attacks over 300 species of fruits and vegetables in tropical, subtropical, and temperate climates on all five continents, control is still largely based on frequent insecticide spraying, often more than 10 sprays per fruiting season. Methods for population estimation, which accurately reflect changes due to movement, mortality or reproduction, are a prerequisite for effective pest management and in particular for use of SIT. With better monitoring tools medfly populations can be estimated more accurately and compared under different conditions, to guide decisions on alternative (i.e. more effective and more environment-friendly) control strategies. In support of this need in the application of SIT field programmes against medfly, an FAO/IAEA co-ordinated research project (CRP) was carried out which resulted in a TECDOC published in 1996 on Standardization of Medfly Trapping for Use in sterile insect technique Programmes. Following the development of male only genetic sexing strains at the FAO/IAEA Agriculture and Biotechnology Laboratories in Seibersdorf, Austria, it was recognized that the development of a female medfly targeted trapping system, in conjunction with only male sterile releases, would improve the efficacy of the SIT, reduce costs, and more effectively utilize sterile males. As a result, a new FAO/IAEA Co-ordinated Research Project on Development of Female Medfly Attractant Systems for Trapping and Sterility Assessment was initiated in 1994 with the objective to develop new synthetic female medfly attractants and to determine their efficacy compared to proteinaceous baits under different weather, host-tree and population density conditions. Findings obtained during the course of this 5-year CRP are described in this publication. Tests were carried out by researchers in fourteen different countries and climates in northern and southern Africa, southern Europe, Central and South America and the Indian Ocean. The production of fruits preferred by the medfly is important in all countries where tests were conducted. Results reflect major progress made in achieving the above objectives, which have resulted in a commercial female medfly lure already in use not only in operational SIT control and eradication programmes, but also in conventional monitoring and even mass trapping. It is hoped that this publication will be of help to all plant protection, pest control and quarantine workers in the tropics and subtropics, where the medfly is a major pest or has the potential to become established

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