Interceptions of Zaprionus species in fruit imports in France
In France, molecular analyses were conducted to identify drosophilid larvae found during phytosanitary inspections of fruit imports. These larvae had been intercepted by French phytosanitary inspectors in the mainland and overseas departments from 2010 to 2016. Eighteen larvae intercepted from 8 countries and 6 host plants were studied. As a result, 8 different drosophilid taxa were found in imported fruit consignments: Z. indianus (EPPO Alert List), Z. ornatus, Z. tuberculatus (EPPO Alert List), Z. mascariensis, Z. bogoriensis, Drosophila simulans and two unidentified drosophilid taxa, one of which probably belongs to the genus Zaprionus.
The authors also report the first findings of Z. indianus in Guadeloupe and Martinique, as well as the detection of Z. indianus in guava (Psidium guajava) from Dominican Republic (for which the EPPO Secretariat had no confirmation of its presence in this country). As it is sometimes questioned whether Zaprionus species are secondary or primary pests, they noted that Z. indianus was found alone on Citrus sinensis, Capsicum frutescens (new host report) and Psidium guajava. Z. tuberculatus was also found alone in Citrus sinensis, and in association with larvae of Ceratitis quilicii on Litchi chinensis. These are new host records for this pest. Finally, Z. bogoriensis was also intercepted alone in Mangifera indica. The authors concluded that this study highlights the importance of phytosanitary import controls which should not be restricted to insects of quarantine significance.
Sources
Balmès V, Mouttet R (2019) The drosophilid risk on imports. EPPO Bulletin 49(1), 122–126. https://doi.org/10.1111/epp.12536
Balmès V and Mouttet R (2017) Development and validation of a simplified morphological identification key for larvae of tephritid species most commonly intercepted at import in Europe. EPPO Bulletin 47(1), 91–99.