In the Pacific Northwest of the USA, western cherry fruit fly is a quarantine pest of cherry. The fly is controlled using insecticides, but newer methods for control would help reduce insecticide input into the environment. One such method is the use of organic coatings sprayed on cherries to prevent or reduce egg laying by the fly into the fruit. It was found that the coatings reduced egg laying by >90% versus controls in the laboratory and >90% in the field. However, there were negative effects on cherries when spray volumes were too high. To reduce potential damage to cherries, reductions in coating mixes were tested by combining them with pyrethrins. Pyrethrins mixed with coatings reduced infestations in cherries more than pyrethrins alone. More work will be conducted to optimize organic coating-pyrethrin mixes for fly control.
