Details
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Article number | 23 |
| Journal | Journal of pest science |
| Volume | 99 |
| Issue number | 1 |
| Early online date | 5 Dec 2025 |
| Publication status | E-pub ahead of print - 5 Dec 2025 |
Abstract
Sustainable strategies are needed to manage plant pathogens and pests without disrupting ecological functions provided by beneficial organisms. Hoverflies (Diptera: Syrphidae), such as Eupeodes corollae, provide ecosystem services and are applied especially in cultivations of horticultural crops: adults serve as pollinators, while larvae prey on pests like aphids. Here, we investigated whether E. corollae can also function as an entomovector for delivering microbial biocontrol agents into flowering crops, similar to systems developed for bees. Targeting the strawberry (Fragaria × ananassa)–grey mould (Botrytis cinerea) pathosystem, we tested the yeast Metschnikowia fructicola (isolate UDA10) for its suitability in hoverfly entomovectoring and suppression of grey mould. Dual culture assays confirmed that M. fructicola inhibits B. cinerea growth. We further demonstrated that E. corollae effectively vectors M. fructicola to strawberry flowers. In a greenhouse experiment, we tested whether hoverflies and yeast, alone or combined, can suppress grey mould in postharvest strawberries from flowers artificially inoculated with B. cinerea. Hoverfly activity significantly reduced the fungal infection (lesion and mycelial coverage) on cold stored fruit by 50–70% after two weeks, especially in combination with the yeast. Additionally, fruits from hoverfly-pollinated flowers were of higher shape quality, indicating improved pollination. Our findings add value to E. corollae as a multifunctional ‘flying agent’ for integrated pest and pollination management, capable of enhancing pollination, entomovectoring for targeted plant pathogen suppression and controlling pests via larval predation. The ‘flying agent’ multitool can potentially be extended to other horticultural systems, contributing to both quality and yield improvements, while reducing reliance on chemical inputs for pest and disease control.
Keywords
- Entomovectoring technology, Flying doctors, Integrated pest and pollination management (IPPM), Plant protection, Postharvest diseases, Precision agriculture
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Agricultural and Biological Sciences(all)
- Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics
- Environmental Science(all)
- Ecology
- Agricultural and Biological Sciences(all)
- Agronomy and Crop Science
- Agricultural and Biological Sciences(all)
- Plant Science
- Agricultural and Biological Sciences(all)
- Insect Science
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In: Journal of pest science, Vol. 99, No. 1, 23, 03.2026.
Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › Research › peer review
}
TY - JOUR
T1 - ‘Flying agents’: hoverflies as a multitool for pollination, vectoring of beneficial microbes and biological control of grey mould disease in strawberries
AU - Rehermann, Guillermo
AU - Petig, Christine
AU - Khalil, Samar
AU - Stenberg, Johan A.
AU - Meyhöfer, Rainer
AU - Becher, Paul G.
N1 - Publisher Copyright: © The Author(s) 2025.
PY - 2025/12/5
Y1 - 2025/12/5
N2 - Sustainable strategies are needed to manage plant pathogens and pests without disrupting ecological functions provided by beneficial organisms. Hoverflies (Diptera: Syrphidae), such as Eupeodes corollae, provide ecosystem services and are applied especially in cultivations of horticultural crops: adults serve as pollinators, while larvae prey on pests like aphids. Here, we investigated whether E. corollae can also function as an entomovector for delivering microbial biocontrol agents into flowering crops, similar to systems developed for bees. Targeting the strawberry (Fragaria × ananassa)–grey mould (Botrytis cinerea) pathosystem, we tested the yeast Metschnikowia fructicola (isolate UDA10) for its suitability in hoverfly entomovectoring and suppression of grey mould. Dual culture assays confirmed that M. fructicola inhibits B. cinerea growth. We further demonstrated that E. corollae effectively vectors M. fructicola to strawberry flowers. In a greenhouse experiment, we tested whether hoverflies and yeast, alone or combined, can suppress grey mould in postharvest strawberries from flowers artificially inoculated with B. cinerea. Hoverfly activity significantly reduced the fungal infection (lesion and mycelial coverage) on cold stored fruit by 50–70% after two weeks, especially in combination with the yeast. Additionally, fruits from hoverfly-pollinated flowers were of higher shape quality, indicating improved pollination. Our findings add value to E. corollae as a multifunctional ‘flying agent’ for integrated pest and pollination management, capable of enhancing pollination, entomovectoring for targeted plant pathogen suppression and controlling pests via larval predation. The ‘flying agent’ multitool can potentially be extended to other horticultural systems, contributing to both quality and yield improvements, while reducing reliance on chemical inputs for pest and disease control.
AB - Sustainable strategies are needed to manage plant pathogens and pests without disrupting ecological functions provided by beneficial organisms. Hoverflies (Diptera: Syrphidae), such as Eupeodes corollae, provide ecosystem services and are applied especially in cultivations of horticultural crops: adults serve as pollinators, while larvae prey on pests like aphids. Here, we investigated whether E. corollae can also function as an entomovector for delivering microbial biocontrol agents into flowering crops, similar to systems developed for bees. Targeting the strawberry (Fragaria × ananassa)–grey mould (Botrytis cinerea) pathosystem, we tested the yeast Metschnikowia fructicola (isolate UDA10) for its suitability in hoverfly entomovectoring and suppression of grey mould. Dual culture assays confirmed that M. fructicola inhibits B. cinerea growth. We further demonstrated that E. corollae effectively vectors M. fructicola to strawberry flowers. In a greenhouse experiment, we tested whether hoverflies and yeast, alone or combined, can suppress grey mould in postharvest strawberries from flowers artificially inoculated with B. cinerea. Hoverfly activity significantly reduced the fungal infection (lesion and mycelial coverage) on cold stored fruit by 50–70% after two weeks, especially in combination with the yeast. Additionally, fruits from hoverfly-pollinated flowers were of higher shape quality, indicating improved pollination. Our findings add value to E. corollae as a multifunctional ‘flying agent’ for integrated pest and pollination management, capable of enhancing pollination, entomovectoring for targeted plant pathogen suppression and controlling pests via larval predation. The ‘flying agent’ multitool can potentially be extended to other horticultural systems, contributing to both quality and yield improvements, while reducing reliance on chemical inputs for pest and disease control.
KW - Entomovectoring technology
KW - Flying doctors
KW - Integrated pest and pollination management (IPPM)
KW - Plant protection
KW - Postharvest diseases
KW - Precision agriculture
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=105024124950&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1007/s10340-025-01971-6
DO - 10.1007/s10340-025-01971-6
M3 - Article
VL - 99
JO - Journal of pest science
JF - Journal of pest science
SN - 1612-4758
IS - 1
M1 - 23
ER -