Attract and kill: spinosad containing spheres to control onion maggot (Delia antiqua)

Abstract

BACKGROUNDOnion maggot (Delia antiqua) is a pest of onions worldwide. Current means of managing this pest rely heavily on prophylatic insecticide treatments at planting. These options may not be viable in organic production systems or situations where insecticide‐resistant populations occur. Here we explore the efficacy of an attract and kill strategy for control of D. antiqua evaluating the ability of attractive, spinosad containing spheres to kill adult D. antiqua and reduce crop losses.RESULTSSpinosad containing spheres were able to consistently kill D. antiqua adults over the course of the field season (mortality range: between 49% and 59% on average). Pairing spinosad spheres with Delia Lure increased efficacy by 72% compared with the spheres alone. Performance of this attract and kill strategy also can reduce damage by D. antiqua larvae in the field, but it did not achieve a level of control comparable to the level provided by a conventional insecticide treatment.CONCLUSIONImplementation of this attract and kill strategy could be a valuable tool in situations where conventional pesticides are either not available or desired, where additional control techniques are needed, or to provide a season‐long option for control of D. antiqua populations. © 2020 Society of Chemical Industry

Efficacy of wax‐based bait stations for controlling Bactrocera dorsalis (Diptera: Tephritidae)

“…Additionally, our results indicate that spinetoram has the lowest LC 50 among the four insecticides tested . Furthermore, owing to its superior environmental profile and lower toxicity to non‐targeted insects, previous studies related to Delia antiqua and C. capitata regard spinosad as the ideal killing element for wax‐based bait stations 26,28 …”

“…For instance, longevity experiments carried out in Miami, FL, USA and Antigua, Guatemala demonstrated that wax bait station stripes with spinosad restore lethal impact for use against A. suspensa and C. capitata within 31 and 56 days, respectively 21,26 . A study on Delia antiqua reported that a sphere bearing wax cap incorporated with spinosad performed continuous killing effects on adults over a 4 months duration bioassay in New York, USA 28 …”

“…Furthermore, owing to its superior environmental profile and lower toxicity to non-targeted insects, previous studies related to Delia antiqua and C. capitata regard spinosad as the ideal killing element for wax-based bait stations. 26,28 Visual cues were a crucial factor that markedly impacted the effectiveness of bait stations against tephritid pests. However, restricting to the inherent protective structure, most types of bait stations only rely on the color of the device as visual stimulant for fruit flies.…”

“…Wax matrixes are the most promising as they can be integrated with water‐soluble sucrose, lures, and insecticides, and be formed into specific shapes that are preferred by targeted species 21 . The efficacy of wax‐formed attract and kill agents has been determined for several tephritid pests including C. capitata , A. suspensa and Rhagoletis pomonella (Walsh) (Diptera: Tephritidae), 15,21,26 and other economic species such as Delia antiqua (Meigen) (Diptera: Anthomyiidae) and Drosophila suzukii Matsumura (Diptera: Drosophilidae) 27,28 . Therefore, wax‐based bait stations may be desirable attract‐and‐kill agents against B. dorsalis .…”

Non-lethal effects of entomopathogenic nematode infection

“…With onion maggot ( Delia antiqua ) for instance, EPN susceptible larvae spend much of their life inside an onion bulb while pupae are more exposed in the soil. This pest can be a management challenge, particularly in areas of continuous cultivation; producers are actively seeking alternative management options 23 , 24 .…”