Current status of the Drosophila suzukii management in Trentino, Italy, and research perspectives for sustainable control

Unlike other Drosophila species, Drosophila suzukii is an economically damaging pest because the females have a serrated ovipositor enabling them to infest ripening fruit before harvest. In September 2009 in Trentino, Italy, for the first time in Europe both oviposition on wild hosts and economically important damage on soft fruits were reported. The increasing use of insecticide against this species augments the pesticide residues on the harvested fruits and jeopardises the results obtained with IPM on soft fruits. Development of alternative control methods is therefore urgent to ensure an economic future for the concerned fruit industry. Researchers and technicians of Fondazione Edmund Mach responded rapidly to this new threat. We considered that possible solutions would only arise from a coordinated and international network of diverse expertises, from molecular biology and neurophysiology to pest management techniques. Accordingly, we have determined the genome sequence of Italian D. suzukii in order to assist both basic and applied research and to provide information about genes involved in processes such as intra- and inter-specific communication and overwintering. Considerable efforts have been also made at the understanding of basic ecology of this pest. The population dynamics in different natural and agroecosystems have been followed and temperature-dependent fecundity and survival data were integrated into a matrix population model in order to forecast pest’s phenology. Mass trapping and physical crop protection by using anti-insect nets are under experimental evaluation and seems the more promising alternative control strategies accessible in the near future. Improvement of the attraction efficiency of the available baits is hence one of our main objective. Several indigenous parasitoids of larvae and pupae were found in Trentino and are under investigation as possible biocontrol agents