Trichopria drosophilae, Drosophila suzukii's parasitoid developed by Bioplanet in cooperation with qualified Italian research institutes, is now being distributed to the public.
Trichopria drosophilae
The arrival and spreading of the drosophila in Italy undermined the defence strategies of delicate crops such as strawberries, soft fruit, cherries, other stonefruit, sometimes even grapes, so much so that many plant protection products had to be used. While this is an acceptable solution in the short term, building a natural enemy system is the only way to tackle the problem in the long run. It is therefore important to assess local useful insects, especially since it is still forbidden in Italy to import non-native species.
After examining various predators, a pool of parasitoid hymenopters was studied and Trichopria drosophilae was chosen, which already lives in Italy and other European countries and presents an evolved capability of overcoming the immune reactions D. suzukii has when attacked by a parasitoid.
Trichopria showed a pronounced sexual dimorphism, as the female is larger than the male, while the latter has long antennae with many bristles used for a rather elaborate mating ritual. The female looks for the newly-formed drosophila pupas and lays an egg.
Afterwards, the trichopria larva devours the drosophila and morphs into an adult. Each trichopria female can hit up to one hundred drosophilas with a development cycle of 3 weeks.
Tests carried out over the last 12 months showed its capability to live in the habitats chosen and act as a parasite for both the Drosophila suzukii and of D. melanogaster, which is usually less dangerous but can be just as problematic when combined with the other.
The programmes to introduce Trichopria are carried out by conventional companies even before the crop is attacked in order to establish a population of enemies to hinder the development of D. suzukii.
Trichopria, which is an Italian and European species which though cannot be found in all habitats, must constitute the basis of a real integrated control strategy based not only in pesticides but which could actually reduce their use.
For further information:
Bioplanet
Via Masiera I, 1195
Cesena
Email: info@bioplanet.it
Web: www.bioplanet.it