Cold treatment of “Hass” avocado (Persea americana (Lauraceae)) infested by Thaumatotibia leucotreta (Lepidoptera: Tortricidae) as an additional component of a systems approach

Abstract

Thaumatotibia leucotreta is of phytosanitary importance, and this paper addresses mitigating measures to reduce the risk of its introduction with fresh avocado fruit into importing countries. Applying a cold treatment of 2°C pulp temperature for 20 days resulted in a single T. leucotreta survivor from 28,380 individuals treated. When this result is considered as part of a systems approach where the second component is the poor host status, then the probability of accidentally importing live larvae was lowered to levels exceeding established phytosanitary security levels.