Extension of the use of Augmentoria for Sanitation in a cropping system susceptible to the alien terphritid fruit flies (Diptera: terphritidae) in Hawaii.

Tephritid fruit flies are a major problem of fruit and vegetable crops throughout the world. Management programs for the control of these pests use a range of techniques, but sequestering fruit to preventprogeny survival is often overlooked. This study reports efforts to demonstrate to growers of fruiting crops a technique to sequester emerging adult flies while conserving their parasitoid natural enemies. Demonstration trials were conducted in 4 phases to determine whether growers on the Island of Hawaii would use a tent-like structure(augmentorium) to sequester fruit-fly infested, culled fruit. In phase 1 it was shown that 1127 Bactrocera cucurbitae (Coquillett) were recovered from cull fruit removed to the augmentorium, and that the combination ofbait spray, male lure trapping and sanitation could reduce the level of infestation. Subsequently phase 2 confirmed the three techniques disrupted the breeding cycle and 2 farmers were convinced to use these techniques. In phase 3, further expansion to 12 farms, whose 15 augmentoria were monitored, indicated that over 80% of the growersused the tents (22,217 adult flies recovered from the tents over 1260 days). In phase 4, success of phases 1 to 3 convinced 30 farms to requested 40 augmentoria and an opinion survey of those growers is reported. Implications for use of augmentoria to sequester other insect pests and release their natural enemies, is discussed

Area-Wide Suppression of the Mediterranean Fruit Fly, Ceratitis capitata, and the Oriental Fruit Fly, Bactrocera dorsalis, in Kamuela, Hawaii

The United States Department of Agriculture's Agricultural Research Service initiated an area-wide fruit fly management program in Hawaii in 2000. The first demonstration site was established in Kamuela, Hawaii, USA. This paper documents suppression of the Mediterranean fruit fly, Ceratitis capitata (Wiedemann), and the oriental fruit fly, Bactrocera dorsalis (Hendel) (Diptera: Tephritidae), in a 40 km2 area containing urban, rural and agricultural zones during a 6 year period. The suppression techniques included sanitation, GF-120 NF Naturalyte Fruit Fly Bait sprays, male annihilation, Biolure® traps, and parasitoids against C. capitata and B. dorsalis. In addition, small numbers of sterile males were released against B. dorsalis. Substantial reductions in fruit infestation levels were achieved for both species (90.7 and 60.7% for C. capitata and B. dorsalis, respectively) throughout the treatment period. Fruit fly captures in the 40 km2 treatment area were significantly lower during the 6 year period than those recorded in three non-treated areas. The strategy of combining suppression techniques in an area-wide approach is discussed

Agroecological management of cucurbit-infesting fruit fly: a review

Conventional crop protection with pesticides has limitations such as resistance of pests to pesticides and faunal imbalance. Agroecological crop protection is an attractive alternative based on the principles of agroecology. We present here this strategy using the case of Cucurbitaceae flies, which are the most important agricultural pests in Réunion. Research has been carried out on the bioecology of these insects and on the effectiveness of agroecological techniques. The main points are the following: the number of species of vegetable flies increased in the southern summer. Adult flies spend more than 90 % of their time on nonhost plants, with specific circadian rhythms. Several original agroecological techniques were designed, such as sanitation using augmentoria; trap plants, e.g., maize; adulticide bait; and the creation of habitats for predatory arthropods. Local growers are very satisfied with the results. They have reduced insecticide use with substantial cost savings and they have observed a decrease in losses and a lower phytosanitary workload. The education and training of students, professionals, and the general public has been a major aspect of this project. Increased knowledge of flies and agroecological management strategies of their populations can now be combined with modeling tools to facilitate the extension of the program to other areas or for educational purposes. Practices are currently being extended to other areas of the island and other countries of the Indian Ocean. This project is both a significant milestone for organic farming in Réunion and a precedent for other initiatives aimed at reducing or eliminating pesticides