Postharvest treatment of strawberries with methyl bromide to control spotted wing drosophila, Drosophila suzukii

Methyl bromide (MB) chamber fumigations were evaluated for postharvest control of spotted wing drosophila (SWD), Drosophila suzukii, in strawberry exports from California USA. Strawberries were infested with the most MB-tolerant age of SWD (60‐ to 108-h old at fumigation, ca. mature larvae), infested fruit were buried amongst uninfested fruit in export packaging, and fumigations were with 48 mg L− 1 (3.0 lbs/1000 ft3) for 3 h at 18.0 ± 0.5 °C (x¯±s). Complete mortality of 105,173 ± 3,321 (n ± s) SWD specimens was achieved with applied doses ≥ 34.5 mg L− 1 and exposures, expressed as a concentration × time products (CTs), ≥ 80.3 mg L− 1 h.

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► Control of > 100,000 D. suzukii in packaged strawberries at Probit 9 mortality levels
► Identified age (48–96 h old) and life stage (3rd instar) of D. suzukii most tolerant toward methyl bromide (MB).
► Utilized both direct and indirect methods to diagnose the most MB-tolerant age of D. suzukii.