Biological control of fruit flies in Brazil

Abstract

Fruit flies are the main pests of fruit growing in Brazil. They have been managed predominantly with the use of insecticides applied as cover spray and or/as toxic baits. Currently, the trend of management strategies is toward the adoption of methods that cause the lowest environmental impact in large areas. In this context, biological control is an excellent option to be used together with other management strategies, such as sterile insects, because it leaves no residues, does not disturb nontarget pests, and can be permanent if the natural enemy establishes itself in the field. This review paper addresses the current knowledge on the biological control of fruit flies in Brazil, highlighting the great biodiversity of its natural enemies, especially parasitoids, its biology and ecology. The classical biological control programs in Brazil are also reported, from the introduction of Tetrastichus giffardianus (Hymenoptera: Eulophidae), in 1937, to control Ceratitis capitata (Diptera: Tephritidae), to that of Fopius arisanus (Hymenoptera: Braconidae), in 2012, to control Bactrocera carambolae (Diptera: Tephritidae). Finally, the obtained advances are pointed out, as well as the main bottlenecks and perspectives for the effective use of biological control programs against fruit flies.

Multispectral imaging for quality control of laboratory‐reared Anastrepha fraterculus (Diptera: Tephritidae) pupae

“…In refining the technique, future research could attempt to identify a phase in which male and female could be distinguished, allowing the development of sexing systems for A. fraterculus and other fruit flies. Studies on the application of imaging systems could also be directed to identify parasitized host pupae by different braconid or figitid parasitoid species (Paranhos, Nava, & Malavasi, ).…”

“…The HQP assigned by both the MSI system and the manual inspection presented a high adult emergence rate (>89.5%), since the mean emergence of flies in CENA's colony ranges between 74% and 97% (Canalle et al, 2018). (Paranhos, Nava, & Malavasi, 2019).…”

Biological Control of Tephritid Fruit Flies in the Americas and Hawaii: A Review of the Use of Parasitoids and Predators

“…An augmentative biological control program against the introduced B. carambolae , the carambola fruit fly, was carried out in Northern Brazil (Amapá state) by releasing millions of D. longicaudata specimens [ 151 ]. Although D. longicaudata adapted to the Amazonian environment [ 17 ], it did not have a substantial effect in controlling the tephritid target.…”

“…In 2012, a new biological control program against B. carambolae was started by introducing F. arisanus into Brazil from Hawaii; currently, this braconid parasitoid is reared on C . capitata eggs in different Embrapa laboratories and in the Moscamed Brazil facility [ 151 ].…”

Influence of the host diet on the performance of Doryctobracon areolatus (Hymenoptera: Braconidae)

“…In Brazil, the South American fruit fly Anastrepha fraterculus (Wiedemann, 1830) is considered a major pest to several fruits (Zucchi, 2008;Nunes et al, 2012). One potential parasitoid for the biological control of this species is Doryctobracon areolatus (Szépligeti, 1911) (Hymenoptera: Braconidae), one of the most frequent and abundant species in southern and southeastern states of Brazil (Garcia and Ricalde, 2012;Nunes et al, 2012;Paranhos et al, 2019).…”