Bioiberica presented the results of SuzukiiTrap® at the 7th Cherry International Symposium held in Plasencia, Spain

The 7th Cherry International Symposium was held at Plasencia (Extremadura, Spain) on 23-27 June. It was attended by scientists, agriculture specialists and farmers specializing in cherry crop production that came from major cherry production areas in the world.

At the symposium, Bioiberica presented its new biological attractant for the capture of Drosophila suzukii, Suzuki Trap® in a poster entitled “Evaluation of a New Specific Attractant for the Monitoring and Trapping of Drosophila suzukii (Matsumura, 1931) a New Plague in the West”.

Drosophila suzukii is a highly poliphagous invasive pest coming from Southeast Asia that it is spreading rapidly through western countries such as the United States, Canada, Mexico, as well as through several different European countries. The female’s prominent, saw-like ovipositor apparatus allow it to make an incision in unripe fruits and lay eggs inside them. When the pups hatch the egg, they feed from the fruit’s pulp, causing important damage to the production and marketing quality of the crop.

SuzukiiTrap® is a system specifically developed for the capture of D. suzukii. It has been designed and optimized for use in ready-to-use traps or fly traps that emit highly attractant volatile compounds. The fly is attracted to the trap, enters through the openings. Once trapped inside, it dies by drowning. 

In the poster, specially designed for the event, Bioiberica presented evidence of the attractant power of SuzukiiTrap® in comparison with other attractants, in field trials carried out in cherry trees in Southern France by the Chambre d’Agriculture de Roussillon. The excellent results raised the interest of attendees, as there isn’t yet an efficient and specific attractant for that new pest.

Bioiberica’s Plant Physiology R&D team is currently validating the efficacy of SuzukiiTrap® as a mass trapping system for the control of Drosophila suzukii in a number of red fruit crops that are affected by this pest.