Oecophylla longinoda (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) Lead to Increased Cashew Kernel Size and Kernel Quality.

Weaver ants, Oecophylla spp., are known to positively affect cashew, Anacardium occidentale L., raw nut yield, but their effects on the kernels have not been reported. We compared nut size and the proportion of marketable kernels between raw nuts collected from trees with and without ants. Raw nuts collected from trees with weaver ants were 2.9% larger than nuts from control trees (i.e., without weaver ants), leading to 14% higher proportion of marketable kernels. On trees with ants, the kernel: raw nut ratio from nuts damaged by formic acid was 4.8% lower compared with nondamaged nuts from the same trees. Weaver ants provided three benefits to cashew production by increasing yields, yielding larger nuts, and by producing greater proportions of marketable kernel mass.

The potential distribution of Bactrocera dorsalis: considering phenology and irrigation patterns.

A species in the Bactrocera dorsalis (Hendel) complex was detected in Kenya during 2003 and classified as Bactrocera invadens Drew, Tsuruta & White. Having spread rapidly throughout Africa, it threatens agriculture due to crop damage and loss of market access. In a recent revision of the B. dorsalis complex, B. invadens was incorporated into the species B. dorsalis. The potential distribution of B. dorsalis has been previously modelled. However, previous models were based on presence data and did not incorporate information on the seasonal phenology of B. dorsalis, nor on the possible influence that irrigation may have on its distribution. Methyl eugenol-baited traps were used to collect B. dorsalis in Africa. Seasonal phenology data, measured as fly abundance throughout the year, was related to each location's climate to infer climatic growth response parameters. These functions were used along with African distribution records and development studies to fit the niche model for B. dorsalis, using independent global distribution records outside Africa for model validation. Areas at greatest risk of invasion by B. dorsalis are South and Central America, Mexico, southernmost USA, parts of the Mediterranean coast, parts of Southern and Eastern Australia and New Zealand's North Island. Under irrigation, most of Africa and Australia appear climatically suitable.

Seasonal Abundance of Mango Fruit Flies (Diptera: Tephritidae) and Ecological Implications for Their Management in Mango and Cashew Orchards in Benin (Centre & North).

We report the results of a large-scale (six orchards) and long-term (5-yr) study on seasonal population fluctuations of fruit flies (Diptera Tephritidae) in mango (2005-2009) and cashew (2007-2009) orchards in the Borgou Department, Benin.During the five consecutive years of mango fruit fly monitoring, 25 tephritid species were captured including three species of Bactrocera, 11 of Ceratitis, and 11 of Dacus, which is represented by 2,138,150 specimens in mango orchards. We observed significant differences in Bactrocera dorsalis (Hendel) counts between "high" and "low" mango production years from 2005 to 2008 but not in Ceratitis cosyra (Walker) counts. The native species, C. cosyra, the most abundant species during the dry season, peaked beginning of May, while the exotic species, B. dorsalis, the most abundant species during the rainy season, peaked in June. Preliminary results underlined the role of nine species of wild hosts and seven species of cultivated ones around mango orchards that played an important role in maintaining B. dorsalis in this Sudan zone all year round. The presence of C. cosyra stretched over 9 mo.During the first 14 wk of tephritid monitoring on cashew orchards situated near mango orchards, most flies (62%) were captured in traps positioned in cashew orchards, showing the strong interest of an early fly control on cashew before the mango season. According to these results, in the Sudan zone, effective and compatible control methods as proposed by the IPM package validated by the West African Fruit Fly Initiative project against mango fruit flies are proposed for a large regional tephritid control program in same zones of West Africa.