Using Parasites to Manage Fruit Flies

Farmers may have another weapon to combat fruit flies in their vineyard. Muscidifurax, a parasitic insect that kills its host, was found to be effective in controlling the Mediterranean fruit fly (medfly). Medfly is an important agronomic pest that has spread to many parts of the world, including Australasia and North and South America, and currently threatens billion of dollars worth of crops. In the US, the pest has invaded California, Texas and Florida. Muscidifurax offers an environment-friendly way of managing fruit fly populations. The parasite is also being used to control house flies. Further research is being carried out to establish the host range of Muscidifurax.

The abstract of the paper published by Hortscience is available at http://hortsci.ashspublications.org/cgi/content/abstract/42/6/1400/