Would you harm a fly?

Abstract

The Green Revolution has greatly changed agricultural production methods. Agriculture has become more specialized and intensive, and the use of phytopharmaceutical products, including insecticides, has intensified. However, these are harmful to the environment and human health. At the same time, globalization has led to the introduction of alien species (called invasive), whose establishment in Europe has been facilitated by the abundance of nutritive resources and the absence of natural enemies. These observations are particularly true with Drosophila suzukii. This fly is now considered as the main fruit pest in the world. Thus, it is becoming urgent to find alternative control methods to insecticides to counter the economic damage caused by this new pest. However, the development of an integrated pest management approach requires an excellent understanding of the biology and ecology of the species. In this paper, we first present the state of knowledge on the life cycle, host plants and phenology of D. suzukii. The current geographical distribution and the history of invasion of this pest are detailed, before estimating the extent of the economic losses caused. In a second part, the known alternative control methods against D. suzukii are listed: cultural practices, post-harvest treatments, sterile insect releases, uses of natural enemies and behavioral manipulations (visual and olfactory). Finally, in a third part, we will see how these methods can be combined to improve the control of this pest.