Detection and monitoring of fruit flies in Africa

Abstract

The production and trade of fresh fruit is currently increasing in Africa, as is the movement of people into and within the region. This increases the risk of new fruit fly invasions. The increase in production of fresh fruit also requires for more effective management of established insect pests like fruit flies in order to maximise yield and facilitate trade. It is imperative, therefore, that effective fruit fly detection and monitoring systems are developed, set up and maintained in Africa in order to protect and expand the fresh fruit sector which brings income and employment to the region. Effective trapping systems have been developed for many fruit fly pests and they enable the early detection and monitoring of these pests. However, for a number of important established fruit fly pests in Africa, notably in the Dacus group, trapping systems are yet to be developed and optimised. Moreover, new recently developed fruit fly attractants have yet to be tested on African species.