Chemical Composition of Essential Oils from Leaves and Fruits of Juniperus foetidissima and Their Attractancy and Toxicity to Two Economically Important Tephritid Fruit Fly Species, Ceratitis capitata and Anastrepha suspensa

The present study analyzed the chemical composition of Juniperus foetidissima Willd. essential oils (EOs) and evaluated their attractancy and toxicity to two agriculturally important tephritid fruit flies. The composition of hydrodistilled EOs obtained from leaves (JFLEO) and fruits (JFFEO) of J. foetidissima was analyzed by GC–FID and GC–MS. The main compounds were α-pinene (45%) and cedrol (18%) in the JFLEO and α-pinene (42%), α-thujone (12%), and β-thujone (25%) in the JFFEO. In behavioral bioassays of the male Mediterranean fruit fly, Ceratitis capitata (Wiedemann), both JFLEO and JFFEO showed strong attraction comparable to that observed with two positive controls, Melaleuca alternifolia and Tetradenia riparia EOs. In topical bioassays of the female Caribbean fruit fly, Anastrepha suspensa (Loew), the toxicity of JFFEO was two-fold higher than that of JFLEO, with the LD50 values being 10.46 and 22.07 µg/µL, respectively. This could be due to differences in chemical components between JFLEO and JFFEO. The JFFEO was dominated by 48% monoterpene hydrocarbons (MH) and 46% oxygenated monoterpenes (OM), while JFLEO consisted of 57% MH, 18% OM, and 20% oxygenated sesquiterpenes (OS). This is the first study to evaluate the attractancy and toxicity of J. foetidissima EOs to tephritid fruit flies. Our results indicate that JFFEO has the potential for application to the management of pest tephritid species, and further investigation is warranted.

2021–2022 Florida Citrus Production Guide: Plant Bugs, Chewing Insect Pests, Caribbean Fruit Fly, and Thrips

Reviewed March 2021. There are no changes in recommendation from 2020.

Anastrepha suspensa (Caribbean fruit fly).

A. suspensa is a pest of guava [Psidium guajava], grapefruit [Citrus x paradisi], and various other cultivated fruits. It is native to the Greater Antilles and possibly the Bahamas, and is an introduced pest in Florida, USA. It is considered an A1 quarantine pest by EPPO.

Caribbean Fruit Fly Management in Florida Peaches

The Caribbean fruit fly, Anastrepha suspensa, is a member of the fly family Tephritidae, which contains some of the most destructive fruit pests in the world. This 4-page fact sheet written by Amanda Coleen Hodges and Cory Penca and published by the UF/IFAS Department of Entomology and Nematology provides information about the biology and management of the Caribbean fruit fly. http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/in1242