Alternative methods for controlling the olive fly, Bactrocera oleae, involving semiochemicals

The use of semiochemicals, both sex pheromones and food attractants, in monitoring the olive fly, Bactrocera oleae, has become well established in most olive-growing countries of the Mediterranean basin. There is an ever-increasing degree of sophistication that is being introduced in the way trap catch data are collected and interpreted, making for a substantially more rational use of conventional insecticides. The introduction of semiochemical-based products as control methods in IPM packages for B.oleae has been very successfully accomplished on a pilot scale in a number of olive growing countries. These pilot scale trials are now being extended into area-wide programmes in Spain, Italy and Greece and will, in due course, be extended to the whole of the Mediterranean basin.