Pg. 15-23 Survey on litchi fruit to determine the incidence of moth damage and the presence of larvae and pupae in the fruit

The South African litchi industry would like to expand their markets and applied to the National Department of
Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries for the export of litchi to the United States of America. The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) conducted the pest risk analysis, identifying the quarantine pests of concern as litchi moth, Cryptophlebia pelstastica (Meyrick) (Lepidoptera: Tortricidae); false codling moth, Thaumatotibia leucotreta (Meyrick) (Lepidoptera: Tortricidae); Mediterranean fruit fly, Ceratitis capitata (Wiedemann) (Diptera: Tephritidae); Natal fruit fly, Ceratitis rosa Karsch (Diptera: Tephritidae); pink wax scale, Ceroplastes rubens Maskell (Hemiptera: Coccidae); fig wax scale, Ceroplastes rusci (Linnaeus) (Hemiptera: Coccidae); coffee green scale, Coccus viridus (Green) (Hemiptera: Coccidae) and Karoo thorn mealy bug, Nipaecoccus viridis (Newstead) (Hemiptera: Pseudococcidae). Mitigation measures were also suggested and the only method which requires no research on the efficacy of controlling regulatory pests is gamma irradiation. The South African litchi industry accepted the proposed use of gamma irradiation as a mitigation treatment, with provision that a cold treatment be used if efficacy is proven. Irradiation of fruit and vegetables with a minimum absorbed dose of 400 Gy is a treatment approved by the USDA-APHIS for mitigating risk for all insects except for adults and pupae of the order Lepidoptera. Both the quarantine pests T. leucotreta and C. peltastica are
Lepidopteran pests. In the case of C. peltastica there is evidence that the larvae occasionally pupate in the fruit and therefore, a survey was conducted to determine the presence and abundance of pupae in the fruit at harvest. A total of 64,089 fruit were inspected during the four seasons and no pupae were found in the fruit.