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ARS Home » Pacific West Area » Hilo, Hawaii » Daniel K. Inouye U.S. Pacific Basin Agricultural Research Center » Tropical Crop and Commodity Protection Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #257957
Title: Host status of Vaccinium reticulatum to invasive tephritid fruit flies in Hawaii

Author
item Follett, Peter
item Zee, Francis

Submitted to: Journal of Economic Entomology
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 12/10/2010
Publication Date: 4/1/2011
Citation: Follett, P.A., Zee, F.T. 2011. Host status of Vaccinium reticulatum to invasive tephritid fruit flies in Hawaii. Journal of Economic Entomology. 104:571-573.

Interpretive Summary: Ohelo (Vaccicinium reticulatum Small) is a native Hawaiian plant with commercial potential in Hawaii as a nursery crop to be transplanted for berry production or for sale as a potted ornamental. We tested whether ohelo could be infested by oriental fruit fly, Mediterranean fruit fly, melon fly, and solanaceous fruit fly using forced infestation cage tests. Only B. dorsalis successfully attacked and developed in ohelo berries. A total of 1,570 berries produced 10 pupae, all of which emerged as adults, with fruit infestation rate of 0.0064% and an average of 0.0053 puparia per gram of fruit. By comparison, papaya fruit used as controls produced an average of 1.44 B. dorsalis pupae per gram of fruit. Ohelo berry is a marginal or poor host for B. dorsalis and apparently a non-host for C. capitata, B. cucurbitae and B. latifrons. Commercial plantings of ohelo will rarely be attacked by fruit flies in Hawaii.

Technical Abstract: Ohelo (Vaccicinium reticulatum Small) has commercial potential in Hawaii as a nursery crop to be transplanted for berry production or for sale as a potted ornamental. Forced infestation studies were conducted to determine if ohelo fruit are hosts for four invasive tephritid fruit fly species. Ohelo berries were exposed to gravid female flies of Bactrocera dorsalis (Hendel) (oriental fruit fly), Ceratitis capitata (Wiedemann) (Mediterranean fruit fly), Bactrocera cucurbitae (Coquillet) (melon fly), or Bacortocera latifrons in screen cages outdoors for 24 h, and then held on sand in the laboratory for two weeks for pupal development and adult emergence. Only B. dorsalis successfully attacked and developed in ohelo berries. A total of 1,570 berries produced 10 pupae, all of which emerged as adults, with fruit infestation rate of 0.0064% and an average of 0.0053 puparia per gram of fruit. By comparison, papaya fruit used as controls produced an average of 1.44 B. dorsalis pupae per gram of fruit. Ohelo berry is a marginal host for B. dorsalis and apparently a non-host for C. capitata, B. cucurbitae and B. latifrons. Commercial plantings of ohelo will rarely be attacked by fruit flies in Hawaii.