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The insect Mediterranean Fruit Fly, the Ceratitis capitata or Medfly, is one of the most serious pest of cultivated plants and, especially, fruit production worldwide.
It attacks more than 350 plant species and the damage it causes amounts to several hundred million dollars per year.
These level of championship catastrophic performance of the arthropod, have forced many countries to declare the Mediterranean Fruit Fly, a quarantine insect.
CONTENTS
DOCUMENTS
Male Adult of Mediterranean Fruit Fly
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Diptera
Suborder: Brachycera
Family: Tephritidae
Subfamily: Dacinae
Tribe: Ceratitidini
Genus: Ceratitis
Species: Ceratitis capitata (Wiedemann, 1824)
Egg: Ellipsoid, elongated, glossy white in color, 0.9-1.1 mm long and 0.2-0.3 mm in diameter.
Larvae: Long, white or cream-white, headless and without legs, with the posterior part wider than the anterior.
Pupa: Ellipsoid-cylindrical, cream-white to dark brown in color, 4.4-4.5 mm in length and 2-2.5 mm in diameter.
Adult: It is 4-6 mm long, 1.2-2 mm wide and colorful, with strips of yellow, brown and black in the thorax and abdomen. The wings are 4.5 mm long and are transparent with black, brown and brown-yellow stripes.
Generations per year: 3-7
Biological cycle: Eggs, larvae, pupae and adult are the four stages that the Medfly passes to complete its life cycle. Its duration depends on conditions, season and temperatures and lasts from 21 to 100 days.
After mating, female using the ovipositor open small holes and insert 1 to 14 eggs per position in the fruit, preferably in breaks or vulnerable areas of the skin.
With the hatching of the eggs, the maggots come out and feed on the fruit pulp. After three instar stages, they are pupate mainly on the ground at a shallow depth.
From there, at an average temperature of 24-26 °C (76-79 °F), the adults emerges within 6 to 13 days.
Overwintering: As larvae on fruits found on the tree or on the ground, rarely as a pupa or adult on the ground.
General: Apparent signs after oviposition at the holes of infected fruits, around which may be partial tissue decomposition or secondary sepsis as well as honeydews. Fungi and bacteria can enter the attack sites. Secondary pests attack from other insects may also occur in the fruit.
Citrus: In the pericarp of the fruit soft areas are created around the oviposition spots. Larvae destroy the flesh.
Pome Fruits: Veins at the oviposition holes. The attack begins when fruit ripening starts, in the color change phase. Larvae destroy the flesh.
Stone Fruits: Veins at the oviposition holes. If the fruit is juicy, the juices flows from the hole. Larvae destroy the flesh.
Different means – chemical, biological etc. are used to control the Mediterranean Fruit Fly. Regardless of the means though, it is necessary to collect, remove and destroy (bury etc.) all the affected fruits, both those that have fallen on the ground and those that remain in the trees. It is also recommended to clean the soil from the weeds in the affected area.
The application of zeolite powder has given encouraging results. Used in 1% dissolution at coverage spraying. Sprays start at the end of April and are repeated one per month.
Insects Fopius ceratitivorus and Psyttalia concolor have been used to control the Medfly in Hawaii and Kenya respectively. Their unleashing was successful, but the cost of mass production and disposal is high.
In contrast, the entomopathogenic fungus Beauveria bassiana is used in various formulations to control the populations of the Mediterranean Fruit Fly, with satisfactory results and reasonable costs.
The method consists in unleashing sterile adults of the Mediterranean Fruit Fly with the purpose of reducing their reproductive capacity in a given area and thus controlling its population. It is used with satisfactory results.
The method of mass trapping attempts to monitoring but also, to control the populations of the Mediterranean Fruit Fly using pheromone, trophic and color traps, which are used either alone or in combination. And this method is used with satisfactory results.
For foliar spot sprays, an insecticidal active substance is used together with 2-3% trophic attractant (hydrolyzed protein or other trophic attractant) and the non-fruiting part of the trees and their interior are sprayed.
Sprays start 2 weeks before fruit maturation and are repeated every 5 to 7 days.
An insecticidal active substance is used and the entire surface of the trees is sprayed.
Sprays start with fruit maturation and repeat, if possible, every 3 weeks.
Some of the insecticidal active substances used to control the Mediterranean Fruit Fly in both types of spraying are:
Nuts
Almond
Grapes
Vitis vinifera cv. Soultanina
Sultana
Pome Fruits
Pear
Sandparon
Paradise apple
Loquat
Quince
Citrus
Citrus paradisi Macfad
Grapefruit
Citrus medica L.
Citron
Citrus x clementina
Clementine
Citrus japonica L.
Kumquat
Citrus limon (L.) Burm. f
Lemon
Citrus limetta Risso
Sweet lemon
Citrus bergamia L.
Bergamot
Citrus x sinensis (L.) Osbeck
Orange
Citrus reticulata Blanco
Mandarin
Citrus x aurantium L.
Bitter orange
Citrus maxima (Burm.) Merr.
Pummelo
Berries and Wild Fruits
Rubus fruticosus L.
Bramble blackberry
Vaccinium corymbosum L.
Highbush blueberry
Rubus idaeus L.
Raspberry
Ribes grossularia L.
Gooseberry
Vegetables
Cucurbitales
Order: Cucurbitales
Capsicum annuum L.
Sweet pepper
Momordica charantia L.
Balsam apple
Stone Fruits
Prunus armeniaca L.
Apricot
Prunus cerasus L.
Dwarf cherry
Prunus domestica L.
Wild plum
Prunus avium (L.) L.
Sweet cherry
Prunus cocomilia Ten.
Italian plum
Prunus persica var. nucipersica
Nectarine
Prunus persica (L.) Batsch
Peach
Persea americana Mill.
Avocado
Actinidia deliciosa (A. Chev.) C. F. Liang & A. R. Ferguson
Kiwifruit
Psidium guajava L.
Guava
Coffea sp.
Coffee
Averrhoa carambola L.
Starfruit
Diospyros kaki Thunb.
Japanese persimmon
Mangifera indica L.
Mango
Musa acuminata Colla
Banana
Carica papaya L.
Papaya
Ficus carica L.
Fig
Opuntia ficus-indica (L.) Mill.
Tuna
Africa
Algeria, Angola, Benin, Botswana, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cameroon, Cape Verde, Republic of Congo, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Cote d’Ivoire, Egypt, Ethiopia, Gabon, Ghana, Guinea, Kenya, Liberia, Libya, Madagascar, Malawi, Mali, Mauritius, Morocco, Mozambique,
Niger, Nigeria, Reunion, São Tomé and Príncipe, Senegal, Seychelles, Sierra Leone, South Africa, Saint Helena, Sudan, Tanzania, Togo, Tunisia, Uganda, Zimbabwe.
Asia
Cyprus, Israel, Jordan, Lebanon, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Turkey, Yemen.
Europe
Albania, Azores, Balearic Islands, Canary Islands, Corsica, Croatia, France, Greece, Italy, Kosovo, FYROM, Madeira, Montenegro, Portugal, Serbia, Slovenia, South Russia, Sardinia, Sicily, Slovenia, Spain.
South America
Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Suriname, Uruguay, Venezuela.
Central America and Caribbean
Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Jamaica, Netherlands Antilles, Nicaragua, Panama.
North America
USA (California).
Oceania
Australia (New South Wales, limited populations in Western Australia), Northern Mariana Islands.
The References of Ceratitis capitata feature one of the finest voices of the American song: the great Frank Sinatra.
VIDEO
Frank Sinatra devotes ‘Fly Me To The Moon’ to his beloved (Medfly)
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