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Adhesive powder uptake and transfer by Mediterranean fruit flies, Ceratitis capitata (Dipt., Tephritidae)
Author(s) -
Barton L.,
Armsworth C.,
Baxter I.,
Poppy G.,
Gaunt L.,
Nansen C.
Publication year - 2006
Publication title -
journal of applied entomology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.795
H-Index - 60
eISSN - 1439-0418
pISSN - 0931-2048
DOI - 10.1111/j.1439-0418.2006.01061.x
Subject(s) - ceratitis capitata , tephritidae , biology , botany , capitata , mediterranean climate , adhesive , horticulture , pest analysis , ecology , brassica oleracea , chemistry , organic chemistry , layer (electronics)
Entostat TM is an electrostatically charged wax powder that is used as a carrier particle in novel delivery systems for contaminating target insect pests with insecticides, biologicals or pheromones. Here, the adhesion of two forms of Entostat to the Mediterranean fruit fly (medfly) Ceratitis capitata (Wiedemann) was examined, and the adhesion of Entostat to live and dead medflies was compared. From controlled contaminations of medflies, it was shown that live medflies acquired larger quantities of Entostat than dead medflies, which could be due to the electrostatic charge shown to be carried by live insects. Air‐milled Entostat (7.59 μ m mean diameter) adhered in larger quantities to medflies than pestle and mortar‐ground Entostat (9.17 μ m mean diameter). Exposing medflies to different quantities of Entostat affected the initially adhering quantity but did not alter the proportion of powder retained over time. Medfly males contaminated with air‐milled Entostat were shown to transfer small quantities to females during mating. This documentation of secondary powder transfer underscores the potential for using slow‐acting killing agents on the basis of this delivery system.