Journal of Economic Entomology (2018) 111, 1185-1189

Adrian H. Nicholas and Peter A. Follett (2018)
Postharvest irradiation treatment for quarantine control of western flower thrips (Thysanoptera: Thripidae)
Journal of Economic Entomology 111 (3), 1185-1189
Abstract: The western flower thrips, Frankliniella occidentalis (Pergande) (Thysanoptera: Thripidae), is an important pest of fresh horticultural produce and as such is considered a biosecurity risk in many countries from which it is absent. Information is needed on the radiation tolerance of important surface pests of quarantine importance such as F. occidentalis so that phytosanitary irradiation treatments for exported fresh commodities can be lowered to below the 400 Gy generic treatment currently approved for most insects in the United States and Australia. Lowering the dose will help minimize any product quality problems, reduce costs, and shorten treatment time. In large-scale confirmatory trials conducted in two independent laboratories in Hawaii and Australia, a dose of 250 Gy (measured doses 222–279 Gy) applied to adult F. occidentalis on green beans resulted in no reproduction in 5,050 treated individuals. At 250 Gy, the effective dose is significantly below the 400 Gy generic dose, demonstrating that irradiation at this lowered level is an effective method for the disinfestation of F. occidentalis from fresh horticultural produce.
(The abstract is excluded from the Creative Commons licence and has been copied with permission by the publisher.)
Link to article at publishers website
Database assignments for author(s): Peter A. Follett

Research topic(s) for pests/diseases/weeds:
control - general
quarantine treatments/regulations/aspects

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Pest and/or beneficial records:

Beneficial	Pest/Disease/Weed	Crop/Product	Country	Quarant.
	Frankliniella occidentalis