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Submitted to: Journal of Agricultural and Urban Entomology
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal Publication Acceptance Date: 1/29/1997 Publication Date: N/A Citation: N/A Interpretive Summary: Interpretive Summary Many subtropical fruits are regulated by fruit fly quarantines before export. Biological control through predation is an alternative to methyl bromide fumigation for controlling fruit flies. Laboratory-reared Caribbean fruit fly, Anastrepha suspensa, mature larvae were released singly onto the soil surface in guava and carambola groves in Florida. Interactions with predators before burrowing were observed. Four days after release, pupae were excavated from soil and reared out. Four species of ants were observed to attack larvae and cause up to 100 percent mortality. Pupae were found at a depth of up to 27 mm in the field. In the laboratory, the earwig Euborellia annulipes was demonstrated to eat larvae and pupae. Technical Abstract: Technical Abstract Natural mortality due to predation of Caribbean fruit fly, Anastrepha suspensa, immature stages in soil is an important part of pest management systems in subtropical fruit production in Florida. Biological control by naturally occurring predators during the preharvest stages of production provides an alternative to postharvest methyl bromide fumigation. Field experiments in guava and carambola groves indicated that four species of ants killed up to 100 percent of immature stages in soil. In the laboratory, a naturally occurring species of earwig was demonstrated to be capable of eating fruit fly immature stages. |
