Mediterranean fruit fly suppression using chemosterilants for area-wide integrated pest management.

BACKGROUND: The chemosterilisation technique has been demonstrated to reduce the population and fruit damage of the Mediterranean fruit fly, Ceratitis capitata (Wiedemann), in citrus orchards. Field trials showed efficacy by reducing the fruit fly population, which was progressively achieved by continuous application of lufenuron to several generations. Different authors have suggested that field trials should be carried out in isolated or wide areas in order to reduce fruit fly intrusion and obtain best results. To this end, a wide-area trial over 3600 hectares has been under investigation in Valencia (Spain) since 2002 to validate the chemosterilisation technique against the fruit fly. The whole area was treated with 24 traps ha(-1), using more than 86,000 traps in the field trial. RESULTS: A continuous decrease in fruit fly population was observed over the 4 years under trial. Moreover, results showed a significant reduction in persimmon damage in the chemosterilant treatment area compared with a malathion aerial treatment area. In the case of citrus damage, no significant differences were obtained between malathion and chemosterilant treatments. CONCLUSION: The chemosterilant method reduces Mediterranean fruit fly populations, and therefore it is a candidate treatment to replace aerial treatments with insecticides in order to suppress this pest. In addition, the efficacy of chemosterilant treatment is increasing year after year. The possibility of using this technique combined with other control methods is discussed.

A new long-life trimedlure dispenser for Mediterranean fruit fly.

New agricultural techniques are attempting to reduce the application of synthesized pesticides and replace them with new environmentally friendly methods such as mass trapping, mating disruption, or chemosterilization techniques. All these methods are based on the release of a lure for insect attraction or confusion. The success of the chosen method depends on the quality of the attractant emission from the dispenser. Currently, used dispensers with a polymeric matrix and new dispensers with mesoporous inorganic materials were evaluated to obtain more efficient emission kinetics. In this study, the selected pest was the Mediterranean fruit fly, Ceratitis capitata (Wiedemann) and the lure used was trimedlure (TML). The dispensers were validated by means of a field study comparing insect catches with attractant release values. As a result, we have demonstrated that mesoporous dispensers have a clearly longer lifetime than the polymeric plug. Furthermore, the attractant release rate is less dependent on temperature in mesoporous than in polymeric dispensers.