The Wide Potential Trophic Niche of the Asiatic Fruit Fly Drosophila suzukii: The Key of Its Invasion Success in Temperate Europe?

Abstract

The Asiatic fruit fly Drosophila suzukii has recently invaded Europe and North and South America, causing severe damage to fruit production systems. Although agronomic host plants of that fly are now well documented, little is known about the suitability of wild and ornamental hosts in its exotic area. In order to study the potential trophic niche of D. suzukii with relation to fruit characteristics, fleshy fruits from 67 plant species were sampled in natural and anthropic ecosystems (forests, hedgerows, grasslands, coastal areas, gardens and urban areas) of the north of France and submitted to experimental infestations. A set of fruit traits (structure, colour, shape, skin texture, diameter and weight, phenology) potentially interacting with oviposition choices and development success of D. suzukii was measured. Almost half of the tested plant species belonging to 17 plant families allowed the full development of D. suzukii. This suggests that the extreme polyphagy of the fly and the very large reservoir of hosts producing fruits all year round ensure temporal continuity in resource availability and contribute to the persistence and the exceptional invasion success of D. suzukii in natural habitats and neighbouring cultivated systems. Nevertheless, this very plastic trophic niche is not systematically beneficial to the fly. Some of the tested plants attractive to D. suzukii gravid females stimulate oviposition but do not allow full larval development. Planted near sensitive crops, these “trap plants” may attract and lure D. suzukii, therefore contributing to the control of the invasive fly.

Evolutionary Insights into Taste Perception of the Invasive PestDrosophila suzukii

“…This is compatible with a generalist feeding habit, as expanded molecular taste machinery would allow perception of a large assortment of tastants from a wide variety of food sources. This is supported by experimental evidence showing that D. suzukii can oviposit in extremely different fruit species (Lee et al 2011; Yu et al 2013; Poyet et al 2015). Such an increase in taste receptors is shared between D. suzukii and D. biarmipes , suggesting that an ancestral generalist feeding behavior characterized the whole suzukii subgroup, rather than D. suzukii alone.…”

New records of the invasive pest Drosophila suzukii (Matsumura) (Diptera: Drosophilidae) in the South American continent

“…The relative high abundance of D. suzukii that emerged from raspberries in Choele Choel and General Roca localities, 68% and 83% respectively ( Fig. 1; Table I), evidence the known preference of this species for this cultivated exotic host (Abraham et al, 2015;Poyet at al., 2015). This record represents the presence of D. suzukii at southernmost latitude in South America, as shown in Figure 1.…”

“…Then, these eggs develop into larvae that feed on the fruit pulp damaging them by means of fruit tissue collapse facilitating infection by secondary pathogens like bacteria and yeasts, and also other drosophilid species. Drosophila suzukii uses as breeding sites mainly commercial soft-skinned fruits such as blueberries, blackberries, raspberries, cherries, strawberries, among others (reviewed in Poyet et al, 2015). This species has also been found to breed in other non-soft skinned fruits like apples, loquats, persimmons, tomatoes, bananas, figs and kiwis; but in these cases when fruits are previously damaged or overripe (reviewed in Vilela & Mori, 2014).…”

The invasive pest Drosophila suzukii uses trans-generational medication to resist parasitoid attack

“…First, we show that when D. suzukii grows on atropine-containing medium, the mortality rate of both larval and pupal parasitoids is strongly increased. Second, our previous findings showed that D. suzukii is immunologically resistant against European larval parasitoids38 and, third, that many alkaloid-containing host plants are present in natura and used by D. suzukii 15. All these parameters and particularly the composition of plant communities in the vicinity of crops have to be carefully considered before establishing any biological control strategies.…”