Survey on Drosophila suzukii Natural Short-Term Dispersal Capacities Using the Mark-Release-Recapture Technique

• Published in: Insects (Basel, Switzerland) Vol. 10; no. 9; p. 268
• Main Authors: Vacas, Sandra, Primo, Jaime, Manclús, Juan J, Montoya, Ángel, Navarro-Llopis, Vicente
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Switzerland MDPI AG 24.08.2019; MDPI
• Subjects: Attractants; Ceratitis capitata; Cherries; Control methods; Diptera; Dispersal; Dispersion; Drosophila suzukii; Drosophilidae; Eggs; Experiments; Flight; Fruit flies; Fruits; Insecticides; Insects; Laboratories; Local government; mark–release–recapture; Pests; Proteins; spotted-wing drosophila; Spain; spotted-wing drosophila; dispersion; mark–release–recapture; Diptera; Drosophilidae
• ISSN: 2075-4450; 2075-4450
• DOI: 10.3390/insects10090268

Spotted wing drosophila, Matsumura (Diptera: Drosophilidae), has become a key pest for soft fruits and cherries in Europe in less than a decade since the first outbreak in 2007. Although this pest's passive dispersal ability has been observed over more than 1400 km in 1 year, active spread has not yet been extensively studied. A mark-release-recapture (MRR) method based on protein-marked flies was employed to determine the flight capacity of . Sterile marked flies were released and recaptured in a trap grid at increasing distances from 10 to 250 m from the releasing point to study flight distance during periods ranging from 3 h to 1 week. MRR experiments were replicated in the presence and absence of host fruits to study how they could affect dispersal behavior. The dispersal capacity of the Mediterranean fruit fly, Wiedemann (Diptera: Tephritidae) was also studied under the same conditions. The results showed a low dispersal ability for , with a daily flight distance below 100 m with no predominant wind. The implications on natural dispersion and control methods based on attractants are discussed.