DEVELOPMENT OF A SEMIOCHEMICAL-BASED CONTROL METHOD AGAINST THE WALNUT HUSK FLY

摘要

Several European countries are important walnut producers. They however have to deal with the recent introduction of the Walnut Husk Fly, Rhagoletis completa (Diptera, Tephritidae), that causes severe economic losses, especially in biological productions. In absence of chemical treatments, the larvae feed inside the husk, darkening the kernel and staining the shell (Duso and Lago, 2006), therefore depreciating the walnut quality.There are now numerous studies demonstrating the importance of host plants odors in the orientation behavior of fruit flies (Quilici et al., 2014). In the genus Rhagoletis, flies are attracted to fruit odor, as demonstrated in Rhagoletis pomonella for several varieties of apples (Fein et al., 1982; Nojima et al., 2003; Zhang et al., 1999). Although the numbers of published reports dealing with Rhagoletis semiochemicals has recently increased, efficient semiochem-ical-based control strategies are scarce, as recently reviewed by Sarles et al. (2015). So far, no studies have characterized walnut husk volatile organic chemicals.