Recipient Organization
UNIV OF HAWAII
3190 MAILE WAY
HONOLULU,HI 96822
Performing Department
(N/A)
Non Technical Summary
This is an ARDP applied research (single function) project in the Plant Protection Tools and Tactics focus area of CPPM. Commercial insecticide products containing entomopathogenic fungi (EPF) are typically sprayed as aqueous suspensions. EPF in aqueous suspensions do not persist for long periods because absorption of water can lead to spontaneous germination of spores. For use in bait stations, the EPF spores must persist for days or weeks. Bait stations can shelter EPF from rain and sunlight, thereby allowing dry EPF formulations to persist longer. However, dry spore formulations tend to have low efficacy and are still affected by high humidity. We developed a novel oil-based EPF formulation for use in attract-and-kill applications. Oil-based formulations protect EPF from moisture and facilitate spore attachment to insects. We also developed a 3-D printed bait station, which when treated with our EPF (Beauveria bassiana) formulation, maximizes attraction and mortality of three Tephritidae fruit flies: Mediterranean fruit fly (Ceratitis capitata), Oriental fruit fly (Bactrocera dorsalis), and melon fly (Zeugodacus cucurbitae). The treated bait stations, which contained male lures, facilitated male contact with the formulation, who then transferred the spores to reproductively mature females during mating. In this project, we will distribute the bait stations to commercial growers and obtain feedback on usability, which will be used to improve the design for the development of a mass-producible, cost-effective bait station device. We will then field-test the mass-producible bait stations with growers and test the device on other fruit fly species of economic importance (Anastrepha spp.).
Animal Health Component
20%
Research Effort Categories
Basic
0%
Applied
20%
Developmental
80%
Goals / Objectives
Goal:To enhance current mitigation strategies for invasive Tephritidae fruit flies by developing a pest control device that will kill reproductively mature females.Objective 1: Modify the bait station design and formulation application method to make them suitable for mass-production.Objective 2: Evaluate the effectiveness of the mass-produced bait stations on commercial farms to manage Zeugodacus cucurbitae (melon fly), Bactrocera dorsalis (Oriental fruit fly) and Ceratitis capitata (Mediterranean fruit fly).Objective 3: Evaluate the effectiveness of the mass-produced bait stations in attracting and killing Anastrepha suspensa (Caribbean fruit fly) and A. ludens (Mexican fruit fly) in laboratory cages.
Project Methods
Objective 1: Modify the bait station design and formulation application method to make them suitable for mass-production.1A. Training farmers and obtaining feedback (Year 1)3D printed bait stations, including fly lures, and a container of formulation will be given to at least 10 large commercial growers in Hawaii to be used on farms infested with Z. cucurbitae, B. dorsalis, and/or C. capitata. Each grower will be trained on how to deploy and maintain the device. Feedback from the growers to improve the bait station design will be evaluated every two weeks via phone calls or scheduled farm visits.1B. Mass production of bait stations (Year 1)We will first use our vacuum former to produce bait stations similar to the "thick-plate" and "cone" shape bait station designs. Preliminary testingof this designin the lab and field for durability,compatibilitywith theBeauveriabassianaformulation, and attraction to flieswill begin in the first half of Year 1.Objective 2: Evaluate the effectiveness of the mass-produced bait stations on commercial farms to manage Zeugodacus cucurbitae (melon fly), Bactrocera dorsalis (Oriental fruit fly) and Ceratitis capitata (Mediterranean fruit fly)2A. Compare the effects of the mass-produced bait stations to the commonly used inverted bottle traps on fruit fly populations on commercial farms (Years 2-3)Torula yeast traps, which capture both male and female flies, will be deployed on suspected roosting areas throughout each farm to identify at least 10 roosting areas on each farm. The torula yeast traps will be maintained on all confirmed roosting areas for the duration of the experiment to track changes in the fly populations. Two weeks of pre-treatment counts will be made from the torula yeast trap before bait stations are deployed, and counts will be made weekly thereafter to assess changes in the fly population. On the treatment farms, we will request that the growers' deploy our mass-producible bait stations, containing B. bassiana and the species-specific male lure plug. Training and support from the PI, graduate assistant, and UH CTAHR extension agents will be provided as needed to ensure that the bait stations are deployed and serviced properly and as scheduled. On control farms, we will deploy inverted bottle traps containing male lure plugs and a 5 x 5 mm strip of a fumigant pesticide strip (Nuvan Prostrip; a.i. dichlorvos). The B. bassiana formulation will be reapplied to the bait stations weekly and the numbers of female and male flies in the torula yeast traps will be counted weekly, which will serve as a measure of population density.2B. Compare the effects of using the mass-produced bait stations in conjunction with GF-120 to using inverted bottle traps and GF-120 (Years 2-3)To evaluate the utility of our bait stations to kill sexually mature females that evaded insecticide-laced protein bait treatments, such as GF-120 containing spinosad, we will test the bait stations in central Oahu where there are persistently spinosad-resistant Z. cucurbitae. We will conduct the experiment on two commercial farms, one as the GF-120 and bait station "treatment farm" and the other as a GF-120 and inverted bottle trap "control farm".Objective 3: Evaluate the effectiveness of the mass-produced bait stations in attracting and killing Anastrepha suspensa (Caribbean fruit fly) and A. ludens (Mexican fruit fly) in laboratory cages.3A. Identify and measure potency of putative lure compounds for A. suspensa and A. ludens when used with mass-producible bait station design. (Year 2)For each species we will compare the responses and efficacy of our mass-producible bait station design using known baits for Anastrepha spp.: 1) 2C Biolure baits, 2) hydrolyzed torula yeast buffered with borax, and 3) CeraTrap baits. Trials for A. ludens will be conducted in Texas while A. suspensa trials will be conducted in Florida, where federal and state-owned colonies are maintained for research purposes. We will evaluate multiple measures of efficacy: a) percent of flies that interact with the bait station, b) the mean time those flies spend with the bait station and B. bassiana formulation upon contact, c) percent mortality following contact, and d) the infection rate of deceased flies.3B. Compare efficacy with other insecticidal bait stations (Year 3)We will evaluate the overall relative efficacy of our Anastrepha-optimized bait stations with other existing bait stations, including 1) GF-120 treated bait station, 2) our novel B. bassiana bait station, 3) Fly Catch bait station (1% malathion), and the 4) BugEnd Killing station.