Modified Atmosphere Does Not Reduce the Efficacy of Phytosanitary Irradiation Doses Recommended for Tephritid Fruit Flies.

Phytosanitary irradiation (PI) has been successfully used to disinfest fresh commodities and facilitate international agricultural trade. Critical aspects that may reduce PI efficacy must be considered to ensure the consistency and effectiveness of approved treatment schedules. One factor that can potentially reduce PI efficacy is irradiation under low oxygen conditions.

Relative Tolerance of Three Morphotypes of the Anastrepha fraterculus Complex (Diptera: Tephritidae) to Cold Phytosanitary Treatment.

The Anastrepha fraterculus (Wiedemann) complex is currently comprised of at least eight morphotypes, including several that are likely to be described as new species. It is critical to evaluate whether the morphotypes differ in tolerance to phytosanitary treatments. Temperatures from 0 to 3°C are used as a phytosanitary treatment for some commodities exported from the region and at risk of infestation by the A.

Comparison of Populations of Ceratitis capitata (Diptera: Tephritidae) from Three Continents for Susceptibility to Cold Phytosanitary Treatment and Implications for Generic Cold Treatments.

The Mediterranean fruit fly, Ceratitis capitata (Wiedemann) (Diptera: Tephritidae), is arguably the most significant and studied quarantine pest of fresh fruits. There is well over a century of research observations on its response to cold, first as it pertains to shipment of fruits using cold temperatures to preserve fruit quality and how that may aid the survival and distribution of the pest, and then the use of colder temperatures to kill the pest in fruit shipments. Cold tolerance at 1.

Generic Irradiation and Hot Water Phytosanitary Treatments for Mango Fruits cv. 'Ataulfo' niño Infested by Anastrepha ludens and Anastrepha obliqua (Diptera: Tephritidae).

The mango fruit cv. 'Ataulfo' niño is an underdeveloped fruit that has a split on the back and a pronounced peak, and among the current total supply of commercialized mangoes cv. 'Ataulfo', approximately 2% are classified as 'Ataulfo' niño, which are strongly infested by Anastrepha ludens (Loew) (Diptera: Tephritidae) and Anastrepha obliqua Mcquart.

Phytosanitary Irradiation.

Phytosanitary treatments disinfest traded commodities of potential quarantine pests. Phytosanitary irradiation (PI) treatments use ionizing radiation to accomplish this, and, since their international commercial debut in 2004, the use of this technology has increased by ~10% annually. Generic PI treatments (one dose is used for a group of pests and/or commodities, although not all have been tested for efficacy) are used in virtually all commercial PI treatments, and new generic PI doses are proposed, such as 300 Gy, for all insects except pupae and adult Lepidoptera (moths).

Phytosanitary Treatments Against Bactrocera dorsalis (Diptera: Tephritidae): Current Situation and Future Prospects.

Bactrocera dorsalis (Hendel) (Diptera: Tephritidae) is arguably the most important tephritid attacking fruits after Ceratitis capitata (Wiedemann) (Diptera: Tephritidae). In 2003 it was found in Africa and quickly spread to most of the sub-Saharan part of the continent, destroying fruits and creating regulatory barriers to their export. The insect is causing new nutritional and economic losses across Africa, as well as the losses it has caused for decades in infested areas of Asia, New Guinea, and Hawaii.

Relative Tolerance of Six Bactrocera (Diptera: Tephritidae) Species to Phytosanitary Cold Treatment.

To compare relative cold treatment tolerance across the economically important tephritid fruit flies (Diptera: Tephritidae), Bactrocera carambolae Drew & Hancock, Bactrocera correcta (Bezzi), Bactrocera cucurbitae (Coquillett), four populations of Bactrocera dorsalis (Hendel), Bactrocera zonata (Saunders), and Bactrocera tryoni (Froggatt), eggs (in vitro), and larvae (in infested fruit or on carrot diet) were cold treated at 2.0 ± 0.2 °C for selected durations.

Insect thermotolerance comparing host infestation methods: Anastrepha ludens (Diptera: Tephritidae) reared in grapefruit or diet.

Research on insect control should be conducted in a manner that mimics as closely as is feasible its commercial application in all of its practicably conceivable forms. When significant deviations from commercial application are used in research, the effect of the deviations on efficacy should be evaluated. Pest control techniques are sometimes based on research that used untested assumptions about variables that might affect efficacy.

Phytosanitary cold treatment for oranges infested with Bactrocera zonata (Diptera: Tephritidae).

The peach fruit fly, Bactrocera zonata (Saunders), attacks a wide range of tree fruits in countries from Egypt to Vietnam and is occasionally trapped in the United States. Phytosanitary treatments may be required to export fruit hosts of this insect from countries where it is endemic to countries where it is absent but could become established. This research describes comparative studies to determine if B.

Development of phytosanitary cold treatments for oranges infested with Bactrocera invadens and Bactrocera zonata (Diptera: Tephritidae) by comparison with existing cold treatment schedules for Ceratitis capitata (Diptera: Tephritidae).

Phytosanitary cold treatments were tested for Bactrocera invadens Drew, Tsuruta, and White and Bactrocera zonata (Saunders) using comparisons with Ceratitis capitata (Wiedemann). Oranges were infested by puncturing holes in the peel and allowing tephritids to oviposit in the holes. The treatments were initiated when the larvae reached late third instar because previous research had shown that stage to be the most cold tolerant for all three species.

Potential for hypobaric storage as a phytosanitary treatment: mortality of Rhagoletis pomonella (Diptera: Tephritidae) in apples and effects on fruit quality.

The efficacy of low-oxygen atmospheres using low pressure, referred to as hypobaric conditions, to kill egg and third-instar Rhagoletis pomonella (Walsh) in apples was investigated. Infested apples were exposed to 3.33 and 6.

The case for a generic phytosanitary irradiation dose of 400 Gy for Lepidoptera that infest shipped commodities as pupae.

The pros and cons of a generic phytosanitary irradiation dose against all Lepidoptera pupae on all commodities are discussed. The measure of efficacy is to prevent the F1 generation from hatching (F1 egg hatch) when late pupae are irradiated. More data exist for this measure than for others studied, and it is also commercially tenable (i.

Phytosanitary irradiation of Liriomyza trifolii (Diptera: Agromyzidae).

Agromyzid leafminers are economic and quarantine pests of a variety of vegetables, flowers, and ornamental foliage. Methyl bromide fumigation is often used as a phytosanitary treatment when quarantined agromyzids are found in shipped commodities; alternative treatments are sought. Ionizing radiation is a viable alternative that is increasing in use worldwide.

Evaluation of the efficacy of the methyl bromide fumigation schedule against Mexican fruit fly (Diptera: Tephritidae) in citrus fruit.

Methyl bromide fumigation is widely used as a phytosanitary treatment. Mexican fruit fly, Anastrepha ludens (Loew) (Diptera: Tephritidae), is a quarantine pest of several fruit, including citrus (Citrus spp.), exported from Texas, Mexico, and Central America.

Comparison of in vitro heat and cold tolerances of the new invasive species Bactrocera invadens (Diptera: Tephritidae) with three known tephritids.

Bactrocera invadens Drew, Tsuruta & White (Diptera: Tephritidae) is spreading throughout central Africa attacking a variety of fruit; quarantines are placed on fruit from this region that are considered hosts. The only phytosanitary treatment that is commercially available is an ionizing irradiation treatment for all Tephritidae at 150 Gy. The development of other treatments, such as heat, cold, or fumigation, usually requires testing tens of thousands of insects at a dose that provides efficacy and may take several years.

Factors affecting ionizing radiation phytosanitary treatments, and implications for research and generic treatments.

Phytosanitary irradiation (PI) treatments are promising measures to overcome quarantine barriers to trade and are currently used in several countries. Although PI has advantages compared with other treatments one disadvantage bedevils research, approval, and application: organisms may remain alive after importation. Although this does not preclude their use as a phytosanitary treatment, it does leave the treatment without an independent verification of efficacy and places a greater burden for assuring quarantine security on the research supporting the treatment.

Ionizing radiation as a phytosanitary treatment against fruit flies (Diptera: Tephritidae): efficacy in naturally versus artificially infested fruit.

Some phytosanitary irradiation treatment research against tephritid fruit flies (Diptera: Tephritidae) has used artificially infested fruit with the unstated and untested assumption that the method adequately simulated a natural situation. We compare grapefruit, Citrus paradisi Macfayden, naturally infested by Mexican fruit fly, Anastrepha ludens (Loew), via oviposition until larvae reached the late third instar versus insertion of diet-reared third instars into holes made in grapefruits 24 h before irradiation; the latter technique has been used in other studies. Both infestation techniques resulted in statistically indistinguishable results, indicating that insertion of diet-reared third instar Mexican fruit fly into holes bored into grapefruit and subsequently sealed 24 h before irradiation would adequately represent natural infestation and could be used to develop a radiation phytosanitary treatment of the insect in grapefruit when prevention of adult emergence is used as the measure of efficacy.

gamma-Irradiation dose: effects on baby-leaf spinach ascorbic acid, carotenoids, folate, alpha-tocopherol, and phylloquinone concentrations.

Ionizing radiation of fruits and vegetables, in the form of gamma rays or electron beams, is effective in overcoming quarantine barriers in trade and prolonging shelf life, but a void of information persists on ionizing radiation effects of vitamin profiles in individual foods. Baby-leaf spinach from commercial cultivars, flat-leafed 'Lazio' and crinkled-leaf 'Samish', was grown, harvested, and surface sanitized according to industry practices. Baby-leaf spinach of each cultivar was packaged under air or N(2) atmosphere, representing industry practices, then exposed to cesium-137 gamma-radiation at 0.

Efficacy of delayed atmospheric modification in a heat/modified atmosphere phytosanitary treatment.

The combination of heat and low levels of oxygen increases mortality to insects infesting fruit compared with either heat or low oxygen alone. This combination treatment shows promise to disinfest commodities of quarantine pests. Heated air/modified atmosphere treatments employ the modified atmosphere (e.

Ionizing radiation as a phytosanitary treatment against European corn borer (Lepidoptera: Crambidae) in ambient, low oxygen, and cold conditions.

The European corn borer, Ostrinia nubilalis (Hübner) (Lepidoptera: Crambidae), is a quarantine pest for several fresh commodities, including corn-on-the-cob, bell peppers, and green beans. Methyl bromide fumigation is the usual phytosanitary treatment, but the fumigant is under increasing regulation as a stratospheric ozone-depleting substance. Ionizing radiation is a relatively new commercial alternative that is currently used in several countries.

Ionizing irradiation of adults of Angoumois grain moth (Lepidoptera: Gelechiidae) and Indianmeal moth (Lepidoptera: Pyralidae) to prevent reproduction, and implications for a generic irradiation treatment for insects.

Ionizing irradiation is used as a phytosanitary treatment against quarantine pests. A generic treatment of 400 Gy has been approved for commodities entering the United States against all insects except pupae and adults of Lepidoptera because some literature citations indicate that a few insects, namely, the Angoumois grain moth, Sitotroga cerealella (Olivier) (Lepidoptera: Gelechiidae), and the Indianmeal moth, Plodia interpunctella (Hübner) (Lepidoptera: Pyralidae), are not completely controlled at that dose. Radiotolerance in insects increases as the insects develop, so the minimum absorbed dose to prevent F1 egg hatch for these two species when irradiated as adults was examined.

Potential increase in fruit fly (Diptera: Tephritidae) interceptions using ionizing irradiation phytosanitary treatments.

Irradiation postharvest phytosanitary treatments are used increasingly and show further promise because of advantages compared with other treatments. Its chief disadvantage is that, unlike all other commercially used treatments, it does not provide acute mortality, although it prevents insects from completing development or reproducing. The objective of this research was to determine to what extent irradiated egg and early instars of tephritids would develop to later instars that could be found by phytosanitary inspectors or consumers.

Reaction orders for thermal mortality of third instars of Mexican fruit fly (Diptera: Tephritidae).

Mexican fruit fly, Anastrepha ludens (Loew), is a quarantine pest of several fruit, including citrus, avocados, and mangoes, from extreme southern Texas to Costa Rica. To provide information for modeling heat phytosanitary treatments, third instars were heated with an aluminum heating block between 44 and 50 degrees C for time intervals up to those causing 100% mortality. At 44 and 50 degrees C, 100% mortality was achieved at 100 and 2 min, respectively.

Irradiation disinfestation of apple maggot (Diptera: Tephritidae) in hypoxic and low-temperature storage.

Apple maggot, Rhagoletis pomonella (Walsh), is a quarantine pest of apples, Malus domestica Borkhausen, and pears, Pyrus communis L., shipped from much of the United States and Canada. As such, these fruits shipped from infested areas to uninfested areas must undergo a quarantine disinfestation treatment.

Ionizing irradiation quarantine treatment against oriental fruit moth (Lepidoptera: Tortricidae) in ambient and hypoxic atmospheres.

Oriental fruit moth, Grapholita molesta (Busck), is a pest of many rosaceous temperate fruits, including pomes, Malus spp., and stone fruits, Prunus spp., in much of the world.