Compendium of fruit fly host information (CoFFHI), version 1.0

Authors: LIQUIDO, NICANOR - Animal And Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS); McQuate, Grant; SUITER, KARL - North Carolina State University

Submitted to: USDA CPHST Online Database
Publication Type: Other
Publication Acceptance Date: 8/25/2015
Publication Date: 8/25/2015
Citation: Liquido, N.J., Mcquate, G.T., Suiter, K.A. 2015. Compendium of fruit fly host information (CoFFHI), version 1.0. USDA CPHST Online Database. Available: htps://coffhi.cphst.org/.

Interpretive Summary: Fruit flies of the Family Tephritidae, such as the Mediterranean fruit fly (Ceratitis capitata), Oriental fruit fly (Bactrocera dorsalis), or melon fly (Bactrocera cucurbitae), impose enormous constraints on the diversification of agricultural production and expansion of agricultural trade around the world. Fruit flies cause direct damage to fruits and vegetables through oviposition and larval feeding and restrict movement of commodities across national and international borders. Assurance is needed that fruit fly species will not be introduced, via importation of infested fruits or vegetables, to areas where they had not previously been present. Rigorous regulatory procedures are put in place to prevent the introduction of economically significant fruit flies around the world. Establishment of appropriate regulatory procedures, however, is dependent on the knowledge of the status of commodities as hosts for fruit fly species present in the area of production of those commodities. Documentation of host status, however, can be widely scattered through literature publications, government documents and interception records, with some records of note located in older references that are not readily available. The Compendium of Fruit Fly Host Information (CoFFHI), developed through collaborative efforts of scientists in USDA-APHIS, USDA-ARS, and the Center for Integrated Pest Management (CIPM), provides centralized, comprehensive documentation of what is known, worldwide, about the status of fruits and vegetables as hosts of fruit flies of economic importance by summarizing worldwide scientific literature which reports on the host status of fruits and vegetables and listing summaries of interception data and previously prepared host lists for tephritid fruit fly species of economic importance. It also provides botanical and geographic information on each host plant. Overall, it has the potential to be a vital tool in developing protocols that prevent the introduction and establishment of exotic fruit flies that pose significant threats to U.S. agriculture and natural resources. It is an interactive, searchable application that will be accessible online. This first release of CoFFHI provides comprehensive documentation of host records for the Mediterranean fruit fly, Bactrocera latifrons, B.carambolae, and B.correcta. Also included are updated host lists for oriental fruit fly and melon fly for which comprehensive documentation of host records will be added and made available in subsequent CoFFHI releases. Subsequent releases are expected to also include comparable data for other fruit fly species with a focus on Bactrocera, Dacus, Ceratitis and Anastrepha species of economic importance.

Technical Abstract: The Compendium of Fruit Fly Host Information (CoFFHI), developed through collaborative efforts of scientists in USDA-APHIS, USDA-ARS and the Center for Integrated Pest Management (CIPM) provides centralized, comprehensive documentation of what is known worldwide about the status of fruits and vegetables as hosts of fruit flies of economic importance by summarizing worldwide scientific literature which reports on the host status of fruits and vegetables and listing summaries of interception data and previously prepared host lists for tephritid fruit fly species of economic importance. It, also, provides botanical and geographic information on each host plant. It will be a valuable reference about host status of economically significant tephritid fruit fly pests, and has the potential to be a vital tool in developing protocols that prevent the introduction and establishment of exotic fruit flies that pose significant threats to U.S. agriculture and natural resources. It is an interactive, searchable application that will be accessible online. This first release of CoFFHI provides comprehensive documentation of host records for the Mediterranean fruit fly, Bactrocera latifrons, B.carambolae, and B.correcta. Also included are updated host lists for oriental fruit fly and melon fly, for which comprehensive documentation of host records will be added and made available in subsequent CoFFHI releases. Subsequent releases are expected to also include comparable data for other fruit fly species, with a focus on Bactrocera, Dacus, Ceratitis and Anastrepha species of economic importance. CoFFHI will be a useful, validated resource in developing pest risk assessments (PRA) for commodities that are reported or listed as fruit fly hosts, and in determining the risk mitigation options, such as: commodity quarantine treatment based on Probit 9 level of efficacy; quarantine treatment with level of efficacy lower than Probit 9; or, even integrated systems approaches based on defined quarantine security metrics, e.g., probability of a mating pair or maximum pest limit, as predicted from the commodity’s fruit fly host status. CoFFHI will enable regulatory officials to assess the risk of introduction of fruit fly species in imported or exported commodities. Its documentation of host status of fruits and vegetables for fruit fly species of economic importance will, additionally, be of utmost importance for people involved in tephritid fruit fly monitoring, suppression, and eradication efforts.