Fruit Flies: Challenges and Opportunities to Stem the Tide of Global Invasions

Abstract

Global trade in fresh fruit and vegetables, intensification of human mobility, and climate change facilitate fruit fly (Diptera: Tephritidae) invasions. Life-history traits, environmental stress response, dispersal stress, and novel genetic admixtures contribute to their establishment and spread. Tephritids are among the most frequently intercepted taxa at ports of entry. In some countries, supported by the rules-based trade framework, a remarkable amount of biosecurity effort is being arrayed against the range expansion of tephritids. Despite this effort, fruit flies continue to arrive in new jurisdictions, sometimes triggering expensive eradication responses. Surprisingly, scant attention has been paid to biosecurity in the recent discourse about new multilateral trade agreements. Much of the available literature on managing tephritid invasions is focused on a limited number of charismatic (historically high-profile) species, and the generality of many patterns remain speculative. Expected final online publication date for the Annual Review of Entomology, Volume 69 is January 2024. Please see http://www.annualreviews.org/page/journal/pubdates for revised estimates.

Mediterranean fruit fly population phenological patterns are strongly affected by elevation and host presence

“…Several studies focus on early detection of first adults since the correlation between population peaks and higher infestation levels seems to be doubtful 42 , 49 , 51 . Early detection is quite relevant in low prevalence or pest free areas and may be related with major management decisions that affect not only control but fruit trading, extirpation, containment and eradication activities 21 . Bringing new tools to analyze capture data, such as the event history approach followed in the current study, may shed important new light on the detection of invasive fruit flies and the population monitoring under low population densities.…”

“…Connecting the dots between trapping probabilities and population densities revealed by flies per trap per day may contribute to develop more accurate population modeling for specific areas and even farms. Apparently, additional factors regulating C. capitata population growth and dispersion such as temperature, humidity and landscape structure and fragmentation should be considered as well 21 , 68 .…”

“…The Mediterranean fruit fly (medfly), Ceratitis capitata (Wiedemann) (Diptera: Tephritidae), is a tropical multivoltine and extremely polyphagous frugivorous pest that can infest fruits of more than 300 different plant species 17 , 18 . Originated in eastern parts of the sub- Saharan Africa 19 , mostly throughout the intensive international trade of various host fruits and the intense human mobility 20 and its plastic and adaptive biological properties 21 , C. capitata managed to successfully disperse to almost all continents (Africa, Europe, Middle and Near East, several islands of the Indian Ocean, South and Central America, western Australia and Pacific islands) 22 , 23 . In Europe, it has been present throughout the Mediterranean countries for the past couple of centuries.…”