This project will develop a dynamic, strategic trapping system which provides a similar or higher level of confidence as current static, passive grid systems in areas free from Queensland and Mediterranean fruit flies. It will provide more cost-effective and widespread fruit fly trapping networks and more accurate information about fruit fly populations in remote areas of Australia. 

What is the biosecurity problem?

Fruit fly area freedom is managed using traps in expensive, passive, inefficient fixed-grid systems near orchards and towns. Undetected incursions can lead to breeding populations and cause major economic impacts and a loss of valuable markets.

The main outputs of this project are to:

• obtain quantitative data to validate that the new trapping system is as good or better than the current fixed-trap grid system in areas free from Queensland and Mediterranean fruit flies, and in areas of low prevalence
• undertake an external review of methods and data to validate the scientific basis for equivalence of systems for regulatory purposes
• develop a manual detailing new trap placement methods based on knowledge of host phenology and mating sites attractive to fruit flies at various times of the year
• provide data in a format that can be used by the proposed simulation model project

Who will be the end-users of this research?

End-users will be government agencies, particularly state departments for agriculture and NAQS responsible for monitoring fruit flies, and fruit growers who are battling endemic fly populations. There are two outputs: a list of guidelines for unmapped areas and a computer-simulated placement of traps in fully GIS mapped areas. The latter will be achieved in collaboration with CRCNPB project CRC30022, which aims to develop a surveillance simulation platform for biosecurity managers and researchers.