Articles

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  The battle against fruit flies continues in the Comoros

  10/02/2016 Jaëla Devakarne

  The fruit fly Bactrocera invadens (or dorsalis) was detected in 2005 in the Comoros archipelago and poses a considerable threat to fruit crops there. To control this pest, a biological control program was launched in 2013. This program, part of the thesis of entomologist Issa Mze Hassani, will examine the behavior of species of fruit flies in order to prepare for the introduction of one of its natural enemies, the tiny wasp Fopius arisanus.

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  Honeybees of the Indian Ocean Islands: a diversity that must be preserved

  10/02/2016 Jaëla Devakarne I Andrew Hobson

  Local honeybees are of major importance for both the economy and the environment. On the islands of the Southwest Indian Ocean, apiculture is an important activity, especially in Reunion Island, Madagascar, Mauritius and the Seychelles. The preservation of bees, which are essential for the pollination of plants, requires a better knowledge of their diversity.

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  Active epidemiological surveillance of Bacterial wilt in the Indian Ocean

  10/02/2016 Jaëla Devakarne I Andrew Hobson

  Ralstonia solanacearum is a bacterium responsible for the wilt of a large number of cultivated and wild plants worldwide. Some strains of this bacterium are recognized as a quarantine pest in Europe and potential bioterrorism agent in the US. R. solanacearum can cause the loss of an entire crop and usually leads to the death of the plant.

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  The islands as "model systems" for research in ecology and evolution

  23/05/2016 David Josserond

  Ben Warren, former biologist with the PVBMT Joint Research Unit (CIRAD - University of Reunion Island) and now based at the University of Zurich, recently published in Ecology Letters an article commemorating the 50th anniversary of a fundamental biological study: MacArthur and Wilson’s Theory of Island Biogeography, published in 1963.

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  The Asian citrus canker in the Indian Ocean

  10/02/2016 Jaëla Devakarne I Andrew Hobson

  Fruits early loss, alteration of their external quality and defoliation are symptoms caused by Asian citrus canker. Caused by bacteria of the genus Xanthomonas, the disease can cause up to 50% yield loss on the most sensitive species in the tropics. Due to the severity of the symptoms it induces, it is classed as a quarantine pest in several countries including the USA, Australia & EU with a ban on exports of fresh fruits for producing countries without an effective eradication strategy.

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