Novel attract and kill strategies for control of UK fruit crop pests: PROBANDZ

Globally, 80% of commercial soft fruit can be lost as waste due to damage caused by an invasive fruit fly, spotted wing drosophila (SWD). Growers rely on full field sprays of chemical insecticides to protect fruit from SWD, costing £11bn. Recently strawberry growers have also recorded increasing incidence of damage from earwigs with crop losses of 10-30% at peak times in strawberry crops: currently there are no effective control measures for this insect in strawberry crops, even though earwigs are actually beneficial in apple orchards, feeding on a variety of insect pests such as aphids. For apple growers, rosy apple aphid (RAA) is a major pest causing significant yield and quality losses. RAA damage is exacerbated by the presence of ants in the trees in the spring which tend the aphids for their honeydew. These ants protect their valuable 'aphid farms' from predation by generalist insect predators like hoverfly larvae and ladybirds.

We have identified a bait made from a natural product which SWD feeds on (ProBandz) and in combination with low doses of insecticide can be used to control this pest using less than 95% of insecticide that is normally sprayed to protect crops. In this project we will test our new bait, ProBandz, in combination with low doses of alternative insecticides, thereby reducing the risk of SWD insecticide resistance simultaneously reducing levels of residues in the fruit. We will develop a more targeted and less environmentally damaging approach to SWD control.

In strawberry crops we will live trap earwigs using a combination of formulated bait and escape proof traps. Earwigs can be later released into apple orchards as a pest control agent creating a sustainable approach.

To accomplish RAA control, we will use a formulated ProBandz to attract feeding ants away from the aphid colonies, making the aphids more vulnerable to attack from natural enemies, resulting in fewer aphid damaged fruits.