www.agtechdaily.com
No Result
View All Result
  • Login
  • Home
  • Agriculture
  • Food
  • Technology
  • Sustainability
Contact
ABOUT US
  • Home
  • Agriculture
  • Food
  • Technology
  • Sustainability
No Result
View All Result
www.agtechdaily.com
No Result
View All Result
Home Agriculture

Field cage study highlights safety of classic biological control agent against devastating invasive fruit fly

Admin by Admin
March 5, 2022
Reading Time:3min read
0

RELATED POSTS

A transnational collaboration leads to the characterization of an emergent plant virus

Citizen science initiatives increase pollinator activity in private gardens and green spaces

Why this promising biofuel crop takes a summer break

Drosophila suzukii on cherry. Credit: Tim Haye, CABI

CABI scientists have led new research which highlights the safety of a classical biological control agent against the devastating invasive fruit fly Drosophila suzukii which attacks over 150 wild and cultivated fruits, including cherries, blueberries and strawberries, as well as the fruits of ornamental plants.

Drosophila suzukii, or commonly called Spotted Wing Drosophila, is a frugivorous insect native to Eastern Asia that was accidentally introduced to the Americas and Europe in the 2000s, where it rapidly spread. Unlike sympatric Drosophila species in invaded areas, D. suzukii females are able to lay eggs inside unwounded ripening fruits due to their specialized egg-laying organ that is equipped with saw teeth, providing it with a unique niche virtually free from competition.

The resulting high abundance of D. suzukii is leading to extensive damage, making it a major problem for fruit growers, especially in the soft fruit industry.

Field cage releases of the parasitoid G1 Ganaspis cf. brasiliensis carried out in two regions of Switzerland in August 2021 supports findings from previously conducted laboratory-based experiments and the low risk for non-target effects on native Drosophila spp.

The study, carried out with colleagues from the Repubblica e Cantone Ticino, Agroscope, and the Institute of Agricultural Sciences (IAS) of ETH Zurich, and—all in Switzerland, revealed that larvae of the target species D. suzukii feeding in fresh fruits was readily parasitized and of 957 emerging parasitoids, only one was from larvae of the non-target species D. melanogaster feeding on decomposing fruits.

Lead researcher Dr. Lukas Seehausen, based at CABI in Switzerland, said, “Released parasitoids had the choice to parasitize either D. suzukii larvae in fresh fruits, blueberries or elderberries, or the non-target native species D. melanogaster in decomposing fruits, which is their natural habitat.

Buy JNews
ADVERTISEMENT

“The results were unequivocal in that parasitism of D. suzukii larvae feeding in fresh fruits was on average 15%, whereas only one parasitoid emerged from D. melanogaster feeding on decomposing fruits, which is a mere 0.02% parasitism.

“The results achieved under semi-field conditions supports findings from previous laboratory experiments that the parasitoid G1 G. cf. brasiliensis is highly specific to D. suzukii larvae feeding in fresh fruits and parasitism of the closely related D. melanogaster naturally feeding on decomposing fruits is very rare.

“Because in its invaded range, D. suzukii is the only Drosophila species that can attack and develop in undamaged fresh fruits, we conclude that possible non-target impacts are a low and acceptable risk for the control of the destructive invasive spotted wing drosophila.”

In their conclusion, the scientists note that with the first releases of G. cf. brasiliensis in Italy in 2021, a recent acceptance of the application for releases of the same parasitoid in the US, and the submission of an application in Switzerland in February 2022, the research starts to be implemented into practice.

The research was published in Journal of Pest Science.


Natural enemy of Asian fruit fly, previously thought to be one species, is in fact two


More information:
M. Lukas Seehausen et al, Large-arena field cage releases of a candidate classical biological control agent for spotted wing drosophila suggest low risk to non-target species, Journal of Pest Science (2022). DOI: 10.1007/s10340-022-01487-3

Provided by
CABI

Citation:
Field cage study highlights safety of classic biological control agent against devastating invasive fruit fly (2022, March 4)
retrieved 4 March 2022
from https://phys.org/news/2022-03-field-cage-highlights-safety-classic.html

This document is subject to copyright. Apart from any fair dealing for the purpose of private study or research, no
part may be reproduced without the written permission. The content is provided for information purposes only.



Source link

Share this:

  • Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on LinkedIn (Opens in new window)
  • More
  • Click to share on Reddit (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Tumblr (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Pinterest (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Pocket (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Telegram (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on WhatsApp (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Skype (Opens in new window)

Like this:

Like Loading...
Admin

Admin

Related Posts

Agriculture

A transnational collaboration leads to the characterization of an emergent plant virus

January 27, 2023
Agriculture

Citizen science initiatives increase pollinator activity in private gardens and green spaces

January 27, 2023
Agriculture

Why this promising biofuel crop takes a summer break

January 27, 2023
Agriculture

Plant protection of the future may come from the plants themselves

January 26, 2023
Agriculture

Study analyzes gender differences in uptake of biological control agent to tackle tomato pest in Pakistan

January 26, 2023
Agriculture

Proper management of nitrogen and irrigation shown to increase yields and reduce leaching

January 26, 2023
Next Post

Stocks Tumble Friday

Stocks Tumble Friday

Latest News

Jordan is an international investment platform, new minister tells UK businesses

June 1, 2022

FSIS seeking public comments on a number of proposed rules and regulations for the USDA

December 4, 2022

Investigating Europe’s water pollution crisis: Blame it on industrial farming

January 27, 2023

Most Popular

  • Agricultural E-Commerce Boosts Incomes For Cherry farmers in Shandong

    0 shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • Seeds of Discord: Farmers Accused of Fraud in Dicamba Dispute | Arkansas Business News

    0 shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • Farm Credit Administration tours the Midwest – Agweek

    0 shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • 12 Biggest Agriculture Companies in the World

    0 shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • How Technology Is Changing Agriculture

    0 shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
Facebook Twitter Pinterest LinkedIn
www.agtechdaily.com

AgTech Daily provides in-depth journalism and insight into the most impactful news and trends shaping the agricultural and food technology industry

Categories

  • Agriculture
  • Announcements
  • Food
  • Others
  • Sustainability
  • Technology

Quick Links

  • Home
  • About us

© 2022 - All Right Reserved. www.agtechdaily.com.

No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • Agriculture
  • Food
  • Technology
  • Sustainability

© 2022 - All Right Reserved. www.agtechdaily.com.

Welcome Back!

Login to your account below

Forgotten Password?

Create New Account!

Fill the forms bellow to register

All fields are required. Log In

Retrieve your password

Please enter your username or email address to reset your password.

Log In
%d bloggers like this: