[01] Muhammad Sarwar, Nuclear Institute for Agriculture & Biology, Faisalabad, Punjab, Pakistan.

This prime fact discusses fruit fly’s control strategy and gives the information needed to make decisions about controlling these pests from an area. Incredibly, fruit flies are annoying pests as they can destroy a range of fruits and vegetables in a very short space of time. Usually, fruit flies eat ripened fruit and vegetable and fermenting products, and typically remain in areas with suitable food sources. There are several pests described as fruit fly, but the main ones include Bactrocera zonata (Saunders), Bactrocera cucurbitae (Coquillett) and Bactrocera dorsalis (Hendel) that are problems for growers. The larvae (maggots) of the fruit fly feed inside the fruit, destroying the pulp and allowing the entry of secondary bacteria and fungi that rot the fruit and degrade the quality of the host. New research into the fruit fly control is geared to reduce the use of chemical insecticides and allow for agriculture that is more environmentally responsible. A range of fruit fly control and prevention methods can be used including by taking effective biological control action to minimize damage to the fresh fruits and vegetables for contributing on regional management strategies. In this regard, a range of natural enemies, both vertebrate and non-vertebrate, are known to reduce fruit fly populations in fruits and vegetables. Biological control of fruit fly might be accomplished through release and establishment of the predator, parasitoid, and pathogen. Fruit fly predators may include spiders, ants, carabid beetles, assassin bugs, staphylinid beetles and probably others that consume a number of pests such as birds and poultry. Most common parasitoids of fruit flies belong to the families Braconidae, Chalcididae and Eulophidae, and some examples are Psyttalia fletcheri Silvestri, Diachasmimorpha kraussi, and Diachasmimorpha longicaudata. These insects, mostly wasps and flies lay eggs on or near fruit flies pest of fruits and vegetables, and upon hatching, parasitoid’s larvae feed on hosts, either internally or externally and kill hosts during their development. Bacteria pathogens infect their host when eaten, for instance endo-symbiotic bacteria of the genus Wolbachia are known to induce cytoplasmic incompatibility, thelytokous parthenogenesis and male-killing or feminization. Fungal pathogens for example green (Metarhizium anisopliae) and white (Beauveria bassiana) muscardine fungi can infect their hosts by penetrating directly through surface of host‘s body. As with the control of many other pest species, a single control method by itself is often not sufficient to provide high degree of control or even effectively eradicate the fruit flies on sustainable basis.

Fruit Files, Fruit, Vegetable, Predator, Parasitoid, Pathogens, Biological Control

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