Revised Irradiation Doses to Control Melon Fly, Mediterranean Fruit Fly, and Oriental Fruit Fly (Diptera: Tephritidae) and a Generic Dose for Tephritid Fruit Flies
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Exhibit 2a, #48 COMMODITY TREATMENT AND QUARANTINE ENTOMOLOGY Revised Irradiation Doses to Control Melon Fly, Mediterranean Fruit Fly, and Oriental Fruit Fly (Diptera: Tephritidae) and a Generic Dose for Tephritid Fruit Flies 1 PETER A. FOLLETT AND JOHN W. ARMSTRONG USDAÐARS, U.S. PaciÞc Basin Agricultural Research Center, P.O. Box 4459, Hilo, Hawaii 96720 J. Econ. Entomol. 97(4): 1254Ð1262 (2004) ABSTRACT Currently approved irradiation quarantine treatment doses for Bactrocera cucurbitae (Coquillet), melon ßy; Ceratitis capitata (Wiedemann), Mediterranean fruit ßy; and Bactrocera dorsalis (Hendel), oriental fruit ßy, infesting fruits and vegetables for export from Hawaii to the continental United States are 210, 225, and 250 Gy, respectively. Irradiation studies were initiated to determine whether these doses could be reduced to lower treatment costs, minimize any adverse effects on quality, and support a proposed generic irradiation dose of 150 Gy for fruit ßies. DoseÐ response tests were conducted with late third instars of wild and laboratory strains of the three fruit ßy species, both in diet and in fruit. After x-ray irradiation treatment, data were taken on adult emergence, and adult female fecundity and fertility. Melon ßy was the most tolerant of the three species to irradiation, and oriental fruit ßy was more tolerant than Mediterranean fruit ßy. Laboratory and wild strains of each species were equally tolerant of irradiation, and larvae were more tolerant when irradiated in fruit compared with artiÞcial diet. An irradiation dose of 150 Gy applied to 93,666 melon ßy late third instars in papayas resulted in no survival to the adult stage, indicating that this dose is sufÞcient to provide quarantine security. Irradiation doses of 100 and 125 Gy applied to 31,920 Mediterranean fruit ßy and 55,743 oriental fruit ßy late third instars, respectively, also resulted in no survival to the adult stage. Results support a proposed generic irradiation quarantine treatment dose of 150 Gy for all tephritid fruit ßies. KEY WORDS x-ray irradiation, quarantine pest, phytosanitary treatment FRUITS AND VEGETABLES GROWN in Hawaii are subjectto minimizing the adverse effects of the treatment pro- federal quarantine regulations because of four exotic cess on commodity quality (Moy and Wong 2002, tephritid fruit ßiesÑBactrocera cucurbitae (Coquil- Follett and Sanxter 2003). let), melon ßy; Ceratitis capitata (Wiedemann), Med- A “generic” quarantine treatment is one that pro- iterranean fruit ßy; Bactrocera dorsalis (Hendel), ori- vides quarantine security for a broad group of pests. ental fruit ßy; and Bactrocera latifrons (Hendel), For example, a generic treatment could be applied to solanaceous fruit ßy (Diptera: Tephritidae)Ñand all Diptera (ßies), or to ßies in the family Tephritidae other pests. Quarantine treatments such as heat, cold, (fruit ßies), or to tephritid fruit ßies in the genus irradiation, and fumigation disinfest host commodities Bactrocera. Irradiation is the ideal technology for de- of insect pests before they are exported to the U.S. veloping generic treatments because it is effective mainland where the pests do not occur. Hawaii has againstmostinsectsand mitesatdose levels thatdonot approved quarantine treatments for 14 different trop- affect the quality of most commodities. Before generic ical fruits and Þve vegetables (Follett 2004); irradia- treatments can be recommended, information is tion is an accepted quarantine treatment to control needed on effective irradiation doses for a wide range fruit ßies in 10 fruits and Þve vegetables exported from of insects within the taxon. Hawaii (Federal Register 2003). Whereas develop- The International Consultative Group on Food Ir- ment of heat and cold treatments involves generating radiation (ICGFI) was the Þrst group to formalize a datafor each fruithostand pestcombination,irradi- recommendation for generic irradiation treatments ation treatments are developed for a pest species ir- (ICGFI 1991). In 1986, based on irradiation data for respective of fruit host. This is possible because most several tephritid fruit ßy species and a limited number commodities can tolerate irradiation at doses that kill of other insect pests, they proposed a dose of 150 Gy the pest, whereas developing heat and cold treatments for fruit ßies and 300 Gy for other insects. To date, involves Þnding a balance between killing the pest and these doses have not been adopted, partly because earlier research suggested that three tephritid fruit ßy 1 Corresponding author, e-mail: [email protected]. species in Hawaii required higher irradiation doses to August2004 F OLLETT AND ARMSTRONG:REVISED IRRADIATION DOSES TO CONTROL FLIES 1255 preventadultemergence from infestedfruit.Based on reader (Far WestTechnology, Goleta,CA) at600-nm results of Seo et al. (1973), the USDAÐAnimal Plant absorbance. Depending on the species, doseÐresponse Health Inspection Service (APHIS) approved irradi- tests consisted of Þve to eight doses at 10-Gy incre- ation doses of 210, 225, and 250 Gy for melon ßy, ments within a range from 20 to 110 Gy. The dose Mediterranean fruit ßy, and oriental fruit ßy, respec- uniformity (or maximum-minimum) ratio was Յ1.2 tively, for exporting fruits and vegetables from Hawaii for all tests. Tests usually included 300 larvae per dose (Federal Register 1997). (150 larvae in each of two fruit, a third fruit with a Before adopting a generic dose for tephritid fruit dosimeter), replicated four to eight times, and in each ßies, further irradiation studies were needed with replicate a control group was not irradiated. Wild melon ßy, Mediterranean fruit ßy, and oriental fruit ßy Mediterranean fruit ßies from Jerusalem cherry did in Hawaii to determine whether the approved doses notsurvive well during rearing on papaya in prelim- are unnecessarily high and could be reduced. Second- inary tests; therefore, irradiation doseÐresponse tests ary objectives were to compare the radiotolerance of included only 50 larvae per dose, replicated two to laboratory strain and wild fruit ßies, and to determine seven times, and rearing methods were modiÞed to the extent to which treatment substrate can modify minimize handling and reduce control mortality. After radiotolerance. irradiation treatment, papayas or diet containing lar- vae was placed in screened 3.8-liter plastic tubs (Rub- bermaid, Wooster, OH) over sand. Sand was sifted at Methods weekly intervals to remove developing pupae and Comparative doseÐresponse tests were conducted transfer them to 0.24-liter plastic cups. Development with wild and laboratory strains of the melon ßy, of all individuals in a test was followed until death Mediterranean fruit ßy, and oriental fruit ßy, both in while recording adult emergence and testing female diet and in fruit. The primary goal was to Þnd irradi- fecundity and fertility. ation treatments to prevent adult emergence, but re- To test reproductive performance of ßies surviving productive performance of adults surviving treatment irradiation treatment, 25 females ßies were randomly was also examined. Wild melon ßies and oriental fruit selected at each dose and replicate, and transferred ßies were collected weekly from a papaya farm in from mating cages (male and female ßies) to 0.5-liter Kapoho, HI, and reared on papaya. All irradiation tests plastic tubs containing a 4.0-cm-diameter disc of fresh Ϸ were conducted with F1 generation ßies. Laboratory papaya skin; the papaya skin disc was perforated 50 ßies used in tests were obtained from colonies main- times with a #3 probe to facilitate oviposition. After tained at the USDA-ARS laboratory in Honolulu, HI, 4 h, eggs were transferred from the papaya skin onto and were reared on standard diets for each species black Þlter paper (7 cm diameter) in a petri dish. Egg (Vargas 1989). Wild Mediterranean fruit ßies were hatch was recorded after 72Ð96 h. For each treatment, collected periodically from wild Jerusalem cherry, So- egg collection was performed for three successive lanum pseudocapsicum L., in Hawaii Volcanoes Na- weeks after ßies had begun laying eggs (typically 2Ð3 tional Park, HI, and reared on papaya in the laboratory. wk after emergence). When fewer than 25 females The Mediterranean fruit ßy laboratory strain was Maui survived treatment, all live females available were hybrid strain 2000, started in 1997 from crosses be- used for each egg deposition test. Each replicate in- tween Maui-med strain males and wild coffee females cluded an equal number of untreated control ßies for (McInnis etal. 2002). Rearing conditionsfor all spe- comparison. cies for the duration of the experiments were 25 Ϯ 2ЊC Large-scale conÞrmatory tests were conducted and a photoperiod of 14:10 (L:D) h. with each species. Large-scale tests usually involved Late third instars were used in all tests because this irradiating Ϸ4,800 late third instars in papayas (as is the most radiotolerant life stage occurring in fruit for described above) at a single dose predicted to prevent HawaiiÕs tephritid fruit ßies (Balock et al. 1963). For adult emergence; this was repeated 7Ð15 times de- each test, 150 larvae were introduced to the cavity at pending on the species, and each time a control group the center of a ÔKapoho soloÕ papaya (1/2Ð3/4 ripe) of 200Ð400 late third instars was not irradiated. Ad- through a hole made with a 12-mm cork borer, or ditional large-scale tests were conducted with melon placed on standard larval rearing diet in a 0.24-liter ßy by using natural oviposition in the laboratory to plastic cup. Larvae were transferred to papaya or diet infest papayas rather than artiÞcial inoculation. In 24 h before irradiation to allow larvae to distribute quarantine research, the maximum irradiation dose themselves in the media. Irradiation treatment was applied in experimental testing is the minimum ab- conducted at a nearby commercial x-ray irradiation sorbed dose proposed for a certiÞed treatment. Irra- facility (Hawaii Pride, Keaau, HI) by using an electron diation treatment levels were deliberately set so that linear accelerator (5 MeV, model TB-5/15, SureBeam the insects would receive a dose less than the target Corp., San Diego, CA).