MEDFLY – HFRI

The MedFly project

The MEDFLY project focuses on one of the most important invasive species and devastating pests for fresh fruit production in Greece, Europe and worldwide, the Mediterranean fruit fly (medfly), Ceratitis capitata (Wiedemann). We aim to explore the life history and physiological traits that affect invasion success in a comprehensive and holistic approach. Special emphasis will be placed on traits facilitating survival and dispersal of C. capitata into more temperate areas as a result of climate change.

Bringing together novel molecular, physiological, ecological and demographic tools, we will generate new knowledge that can be used to develop new response methods and strategies to increase preparedness of the deciduous fruit producing industry to better control, suppress and/or manage medfly. Using C. capitata as a model, we will explore some less well-understood biological traits that can make an organism a successful invader. Traits include resistance to acute and chronic thermal stress across different developmental stages (e.g. adults, larvae, pupae, eggs) and responses to key fruit hosts under different thermal regimes, and genotype (C. capitata biotypes) x environment (host fruit & temperature) interactions across life stages.

General Objective

To understand invasion dynamics of the Mediterranean fruit fly and biological traits that influence invasion success with emphasis on range expansion to northern, more temperate areas of Greece and Europe.

Specific objectives

• To determine the adaptive and plastic responses of C. capitata to stressful thermal conditions and key overwintering hosts that influence invasion success

• To identify physiological and molecular mechanisms that regulate plastic and adaptive responses to stressful conditions

• To better understand the genetics of behaviour and physiological strategies linked to enhanced dispersal

• To improve our ability to assess the invasion potential of the Mediterranean fruit fly and the treat to deciduous fruit producing areas of Greece and Europe more broadly.

our team

Nikos Papadopoulos

Professor

I am a Professor of Applied Entomology at the University of Thessaly, Greece and the director of the Laboratory of Entomology and Agricultural Zoology.

Papadopoulos_photo

Nikos Papadopoulos

Professor

I am a Professor of Applied Entomology at the University of Thessaly, Greece and the director of the Laboratory of Entomology and Agricultural Zoology. I have a longstanding interest in insect ecology, biology and behaviour with special emphasis on life history evolution and on understanding plastic and adaptive responses of insects to environmental stress.
I am also interested in insect invasion biology and particularly in factors determining invasion success and biological traits of major invasive species. The development of modern, integrated management strategies that incorporate realistic biological information into spatial and temporal IPM algorithms is among my recent research avenues as well.

Phone:+30 24210 93285
Email:nikopap@uth.gr

Kostas Zarpas

Research Associate

I am an Entomologist (PhD, 2006) and I belong to the teaching-scientific staff of the Laboratory of Entomology and Agricultural Zoology of the University of Thessaly.

Zarpas_photo

Kostas Zarpas

Research Associate

I am an Entomologist (PhD, 2006) and I belong to the teaching-scientific staff of the Laboratory of Entomology and Agricultural Zoology of the University of Thessaly, Greece. I serve the Department of Agriculture, Crop Protection and Rural Environment since 1995 (administrative staff, technician, researcher, adjunct lecturer, lab teaching staff).
My research involves insect biology, ecology, demography, behavior, population dynamics, effect of natural enemies and pest management. My PhD involved aphid ecology and population dynamics and currently I work with the research team of Prof. N. Papadopoulos in the field of fruit flies (Tephritidae). Other fields of insect ecology such as cold tolerance and dormancy are currently within my expertise interests, as well as monitoring of quarantine pests and their management in Greece.

Phone:+30 24210 93284
Email:kzarp@agr.uth.gr

Paris Prekas

Agriculturist, Research Technician

Paris Prekas obtained his bachelor degree from the Department of Plant Production and Rural Environment, University of Thessaly in 2019.

prekas_photo

Paris Prekas

Agriculturist, Research Technician

Paris Prekas obtained his bachelor degree from the Department of Plant Production and Rural Environment, University of Thessaly in 2019. During his bachelor thesis, as a member of the scientific group of the Laboratory of Entomology and Agricultural Zoology, he studied the phenology/population dynamics of the olive fly Bactrocera oleae in commercial olive groves in Pelion Mountain, and evaluated different trapping systems for the monitoring of Tephritid fruit flies.
He is currently working at the Laboratory of Entomology as a technician, supporting a small/medium scale rearing of several domestic and international populations/strains of Ceratitis capitata (wild, laboratory and Wolbachia-infested), in order to support several laboratory experiments (demography, behavior) and field trials (field cages).

Phone:+30 24210 93286
Email:parhs1995@hotmail.com

Antonis Papadopoulos

Researcher

I am an Agriculturist and hold an MSc degree in the field of Phytiatrics and Environment. Currently, I am working at the Laboratory of Entomology and Agricultural Zoology of the University of Thessaly.

antoniopap_photo

Antonis Papadopoulos

Researcher

I am an Agriculturist and hold an MSc degree in the field of Phytiatrics and Environment. During my MSc thesis I worked on an economically important agricultural pest, namely Ceratitis capitata (Diptera: Tephritidae), also known as medfly, investigating the effects of maternal age and the duration of larval development on the lifespan and fecundity of the progeny. My future plans include further studies in entomology as a PhD student.
Currently, I am working at the Laboratory of Entomology and Agricultural Zoology of the University of Thessaly, Volos, Greece, as a member of Prof. N. Papadopoulos’ research team. My current scientific interests involve insect biology, ecology and demography. I investigate the development of immature stages of different C. capitata biotypes in key overwintering hosts under a series of constant and fluctuating temperatures as well as the demographic traits of emerging adults. Moreover, estimating the thermal tolerance and the critical upper and lower thermal thresholds of adult and immature stages of different medfly biotypes is within my research interests. I have also participated in a research program (Life-Biodelear), where an innovative mass trapping technique against medfly, using environmentally friendly attractants was developed. At the present, I also support an experimental procedure regarding the biology of olive fruit fly, Bactrocera oleae.
In my leisure time I am particularly keen on trying to identify different insects, arachnids and reptiles, as well as contributing to the improvement of my family’s agricultural business which consists of apricot, sweet cherry, plum, almond, walnut and persimmon orchards located in the prefecture of Pella, Northern Greece.

Phone:+30 2421 093286
Email:antoniopap@uth.gr

Collaborating Partners in the Medfly project

Professor Hahn and his group are well known in the scientific community for their expertise in insect physiology and especially the study of insect responses to environmental stress and seasonal adaptation.

His current research involves the physiological and genetic architecture of phenotypic plasticity in insects, especially with regards to seasonal adaptation to stress and overwinter dormancy. Hahn is an asset for the MEDFLY project since he will support and direct studies on the physiological and molecular mechanisms associated basal traits and phenotypic plasticity of the different C. capitata biotypes.

Briefly, Prof. Hahn will participate in designing studies of the WP5 and WP6, will provide training and support to members of the core group and will host in his laboratory in Florida members of the Papadopoulos group. Metabolomics and lipidomics analysis will be conducted in his laboratory with collaboration of post docs of the MEDFLY project. Hahn will also provide support for designing organismal stress and dormancy assays as well as design and interpretation of the Pool-Seq comparisons of medfly biotypes.

Dr. Daniel Hahn

University of Florida Gainesville, USA

Dr. John Terblance

University of Stellenbosch, South Africa

Professor Terblanche and his group are well known in the scientific community for their expertise in climatic stress responses of insects and the potential implications of climate change on invasion dynamics. He has published numerous studies on thermal tolerance and plastic response of tephritid fruit flies including the Mediterranean fruit fly in Africa.

The involvement and support of Prof. Terblanche in an asset for the MEDFLY project since he will support designing studies, analyzing and interpreting the results from thermal response experiments. In addition, in collaboration with him and his team we will explore the exploitation of the generated data for developing predictive models to assess the range expansion of the Mediterranean fruit fly to northern more temperate European countries.

Entomology and nematology department

Applied Physiological Ecology (APE)

lab

Our Lab

We work on several different aspects of insect biology, ecology, behaviour and pest management, involving laboratory and field studies. In our laboratory, fruit flies of the family Tephritidae are used as model species to address various research questions including:

Life history evolution
Geographic variation in life history traits
Factors shaping life histories in field conditions
Age structure of wild insect populations
Cost of reproduction (mainly that of males)
Aging and health dynamics in insects
Age-specific expression of innate behaviours and their connection with insect performance, life span and reproduction
The relationships between fruit flies and their host fruits
Sexual behaviour including trade-offs and costs of reproduction
Effects of insect symbionts on life history traits.

Insect Biology and Ecology

Research Area

A further line of research regards the development of Area Wide Management Programs based on spatial population dynamics and population modelling. This also encompasses the development of trapping systems and methodologies for various insect pest species. The application of the Sterile Insect Technique, within the framework of Area Wide Integrated Pest Management, and the improvement of its efficacy following pre-release manipulations of sterile males is also within our research interests. Divergence of geographically distant populations in various fitness traits comprises a major part of the research that is currently being undertaken in my laboratory.

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Special emphasis has been placed on the adaptation of invasive species such as the Mediterranean fruit fly in marginal environments for its existence.

olive
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Yet another area of study has involved the biology of invasive Tephritids and the life history components determining a successful invader. The ongoing collaboration of my research group with two groups of geneticists has recently expanded the scope of my research, to include the genetics of invasive species in Europe (North American Rhagoletis spp.), and the Middle East (Dacus ciliatus).

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In recent years we have become interested in the biology and control of major insect vectors of the family Culicidae. Questions regarding overwintering dynamics, demography, life history and development of modern management strategies are currently being addressed.

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