Plant essential oils and potassium metabisulfite as repellents for Drosophila suzukii (Diptera: Drosophilidae)

Abstract

Spotted wing drosophila, Drosophila suzukii, is a globally invasive pest of soft-skinned fruit. Females oviposit into ripening fruit and larvae cause direct destruction of tissues. As many plant essential oils are permitted food additives, they may provide a safe means of protecting fruit from D. suzukii infestation in both conventional and organic production systems. Twelve oils and potassium metabisulfite (KMS) were screened in the laboratory as repellents for D. suzukii flies. Most essential oils deterred D. suzukii flies from cotton wicks containing attractive raspberry juice. Peppermint oil was particularly effective, preventing almost all flies from contacting treated wicks and remaining 100% repellent for 6 d post-application. Thyme oil was unique because it caused high male mortality and reduced the number of responding flies compared to other oils. KMS was not found to be repellent to D. suzukii, but may have fumigant properties, particularly at high concentrations. Peppermint oil appears to be the best candidate for field testing to determine the effectiveness and feasibility of using essential oils as part of a push-pull management strategy against D. suzukii. This is the first time that essential oils have been evaluated and proven effective in preventing fruit-infesting flies from contacting attractive stimuli.

Biological activity of Myrtaceae plant essential oils and their major components againstDrosophila suzukii(Diptera: Drosophilidae)

“…11 -16 We have investigated the insecticidal activity of EOs against SWD. 17,18 Here we report the insecticidal activity and enzyme 19,20 and expected effective insecticidal activity against SWD.…”

“…Here we report the insecticidal activity and enzyme acetylcholinesterase (AChE) and glutathione S ‐transferase (GST) inhibitory activity of Myrtaceae plant EOs and their components against adult SWD. Among EOs, Myrtaceae plant EOs were selected because of their insecticidal and repellent activities and expected effective insecticidal activity against SWD.…”

Evaluating a push–pull strategy for management of Drosophila suzukii Matsumura in red raspberry

“…Aerosol misters emit regular puffs of odorant throughout critical times of day and can maintain high concentrations of deterrent odor in a space, which are hard to achieve with passive emanators. Evaporation rates from passive emanators are affected by environmental conditions and can vary throughout the day and over the life of the dispenser . Peak D. suzukii foraging and oviposition occur at dawn and dusk, times of day where temperatures are cooler and humidity is higher, therefore odorant concentration might be lowest when biologically relevant concentrations of deterrent are most critical.…”

“…Aversive chemical stimuli, which could be deployed as a foliar spray directly on plants or as a volatile odor, have been reported for D. suz ukii . One odor, 1‐octen‐3‐ol, has been demonstrated to be an oviposition deterrent in the field .…”

CRISPR/Cas‐mediated gene editing using purified protein in Drosophila suzukii

“…This invasive species is a pest of stone fruits and berries, causing direct economic loss estimated for different countries to range from few millions up to several hundred million US dollars (Bolda et al, 2010;Asplen et al, 2015;De Ros et al, 2015;Benito et al, 2016). Several pest-control tools against D. suzukii are developed including the use of insecticides and biopesticides (Cossentine et al, 2016;Murphy et al, 2016;Renkema et al, 2016;Smirle et al, 2016). However, currently there is no effective method available for a sustainable management of this pest.…”