Drosophila suzukii (Matsumura) (Diptera: Drosophilidae) also known as spotted-wing drosophila (SWD), is a pest native to Southeast Asia. In the last few decades, the pest has expanded its range to affect all major European and American fruit production regions. SWD is a highly adaptive insect that is able to disperse, survive, and flourish under a range of environmental conditions. Infestation by SWD generates both direct and indirect economic impacts through yield losses, shorter shelf life of infested fruit, and increased production costs. Fresh markets, frozen berries, and fruit export programs have been impacted by the pest due to zero tolerance for fruit infestation. As SWD control programs rely heavily on insecticides, exceedance of maximum residue levels (MRLs) has also resulted in crop rejections. The economic impact of SWD has been particularly severe for organic operations, mainly due to the limited availability of effective insecticides. Integrated pest management (IPM) of SWD could significantly reduce chemical inputs but would require substantial changes to horticultural management practices. This review evaluates the most promising methods studied as part of an IPM strategy against SWD across the world. For each of the considered techniques, the effectiveness, impact, sustainability, and stage of development are discussed.

Significant progress has been made in understanding the cues involved in the host and mate seeking behaviors of spotted wing drosophila, Drosophila suzukii (Matsumura). This insect pest has been discovered in many fruit growing regions around the world since 2008. Unlike closely related Drosophila species, D. suzukii attacks fresh fruit and has become a severe pest of soft fruits including strawberry, cherry, blackberry, blueberry, raspberry, and may pose a threat to grapes. Prior to 2008, little was known about the courtship and host-seeking behaviors or chemical ecology of this pest. Since then, researchers have gained a better understanding of D. suzukii attraction to specific odors from fermentation, yeast, fruit, and leaf sources, and the visual cues that elicit long-range attraction. Several compounds have also been identified that elicit aversive behaviors in adult D. suzukii flies. Progress has been made in identifying the constituent compounds from these odor sources that elicit D. suzukii antennal responses in electrophysiological assays. Commercial lures based on food volatiles have been developed to attract D. suzukii using these components and efforts have been made to improve trap designs for monitoring this pest under field conditions. However, current food-based lures and trap technologies are not expected to be specific to D. suzukii and thus capture large numbers of non-target drosophilids. Attractive and aversive compounds are being evaluated for monitoring, mass trapping, and for the development of attract-and-kill and push-pull techniques to manage D. suzukii populations. This review outlines presently available research on the chemical ecology of D. suzukii and discusses areas for future research.

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There is growing evidence in the literature suggesting that caste differentiation in the stingless bee, Melipona scutellaris, and other bees in the genus Melipona, is triggered by environmental signals, particularly a primer pheromone. With the proper amount of food and a chemical stimulus, 25% of females emerge as queens, in agreement with a long-standing “two loci/two alleles model” proposed in the 1950s. We surmised that these larvae must be equipped with an olfactory system for reception of these chemical signals. Here we describe for the first time the diversity of antennal sensilla in adults and the morphology of larvae of M. scutellaris. Having found evidence for putative olfactory sensilla in larvae, we next asked whether olfactory proteins were expressed in larvae. Since the molecular basis of M. scutellaris is still unknown, we cloned olfactory genes encoding chemosensory proteins (CSP) and odorant-binding proteins (OBPs) using M. scutellaris cDNA template and primers designed on the basis CSPs and OBPs previously reported from the European honeybee, Apis mellifera. We cloned two CSP and two OBP genes and then attempted to express the proteins encoded by these genes. With a recombinant OBP, MscuOBP8, and a combinatorial single-chain variable fragment antibody library, we generated anti-MscuOBP8 monoclonal antibody. By immunohistochemistry we demonstrated that the anti-MscuOBP8 binds specifically to the MscuOBP8. Next, we found evidence that MscuOBP8 is expressed in M. scutellaris larvae and it is located in the mandibular region, thus further supporting the hypothesis of olfactory function in immature stages. Lastly, molecular modeling suggests that MscuOBP8 may function as a carrier of primer pheromones or other ligands.

To evaluate the attractiveness of several mushroom‐growing substrates to the female mushroom fly Lycoriella ingenua (Dufour) (Diptera: Sciaridae), a pest of the cultivated white button mushroom, Agaricus bisporus (JE Lange) Emil J Imbach (Agaricales), we developed a two‐choice, static‐flow olfactometer. Behavioral assays using this olfactometer indicated that mushroom compost with A. bisporus mycelia growing in it was not more attractive than compost lacking growing mycelia. We also found that female flies were more attracted to compost lacking A. bisporus mycelia than to the actual commodity, the white button mushroom fruiting bodies. Flies were not, however, attracted to sterilized compost, suggesting the attraction is due to volatiles produced by microbial metabolism in the compost. We also found that female L. ingenua flies were attracted to the mycoparasitic green mold Trichoderma aggressivum Samuels & W Gams (Hypocreales). Flies preferred mushroom compost that had T. aggressivum growing in it over compost lacking T. aggressivum, providing an experimental outcome consistent with the anecdotal belief that L. ingenua flies are vectors of T. aggressivum spores that can infest mushroom‐growing houses.

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Lycoriella ingenua Dufour (Diptera: Sciaridae) is acknowledged as the major pest species of the white button mushroom, Agaricus bisporus, throughout the world. Components of the female-produced sex pheromone of this species were identified previously as C15-C18 n-alkanes, with the major component n-heptadecane, and shown to be attractive to L. mali. However, a subsequent report could not repeat this work. We reinvestigated the sex pheromone of this species by confirming that virgin females were attractive to males in a Y-tube bioassay and by collection of extracts from virgin females. Extracts were analyzed by gas chromatography coupled to electroantennographic detection, and by the less widely-used technique of gas chromatography coupled to a behavioral bioassay to detect compounds causing wing-fanning and copulatory abdomen curling in males. A single, behaviorally-active pheromone component was isolated and characterized by gas chromatography coupled to mass spectrometry. This component was definitively not n-heptadecane or any of the other C15-C19 n-alkanes reported previously, but is proposed to be a sesquiterpene alcohol having analytical characteristics that closely matched those of reference germacradienols.

The Streptomyces produce a great diversity of specialized metabolites, including highly volatile compounds with potential biological activities. Volatile organic compounds (VOCs) produced by nine Streptomyces spp., some of which are of industrial importance, were collected and identified using gas chromatography–mass spectrometry (GC-MS). Biosynthetic gene clusters (BGCs) present in the genomes of the respective Streptomyces spp. were also predicted to match them with the VOCs detected. Overall, 33 specific VOCs were identified, of which the production of 16 has not been previously reported in the Streptomyces. Among chemical classes, the most abundant VOCs were terpenes, which is consistent with predicted biosynthetic capabilities. In addition, 27 of the identified VOCs were plant-associated, demonstrating that some Streptomyces spp. can also produce such molecules. It is possible that some of the VOCs detected in the current study have roles in the interaction of Streptomyces with plants and other higher organisms, which might provide opportunities for their application in agriculture or industry.