WAILUA HOMESTEADS — While you might not see it on the shelves of your local bookstore any time soon, “A History of Fruit Fly Research,” written by Kaua‘i resident Hank Soboleski, is a labor of love that will be of
WAILUA HOMESTEADS — While you might not see it on the shelves of your local bookstore any time soon, “A History of Fruit Fly Research,” written by Kaua‘i resident Hank Soboleski, is a labor of love that will be of use to future researchers, entomologists, and backyard gardeners everywhere.
The lengthy study, officially titled “A History of Fruit Fly Research by the Agricultural Research Service (ARS) in Hawaii,” published this year by leaders in the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), is available online at www.pbarc.arc.usda.gov.
It is not only a complete history of fruit-fly research in Hawai‘i, but also commemorates the 50th anniversary of ARS, according to Hilo-based Dr. Eric Jang, research leader and research entomologist for the USDA’s U.S Pacific Basin ARS offices.
The history contains many illustrations not only of fruit flies, but of the pioneering researchers who made it their careers to document them and attempt to control these pests from wrecking untold havoc on Hawaiian crops.
The history also pays homage to researchers who began studying the fruit fly’s impact on Hawai‘i’s agriculture some 50 years prior to the establishment of the USDA’s U.S Pacific Basin ARS offices.
Soboleski is an ARS technician at the University of Hawai‘i Experiment Station at Wailua.
Sobolseki is also an historian and prolific writer, who has published many books prior to this effort.
So, with vast experience as both a fruit-fly and agricultural researcher and with a knack for making science readable, he was the right man for the job.
“I’ve been doing this on and off since 2002. It’s written in lay-person language so it can be read by anyone,” Sobolseki said.
Jang, who along with Dr. Ernest J. Harris edited the history and contributed to the detailed study, said, “I’m happy with what we have so far. I think it will be of great value,” Jang said.
Jang added Soboleski did a good job, doing most of the writing in his spare time.
Jang joked that, rather than putting people to sleep with scientific phrases and fruit-fly insider information, Soboleski made it smooth enough so even Jang’s wife read it.
Fruit flies just about took out every papaya farmer on the island in the 1980s, and the requirement to treat outbound papaya so that no living fruit fly in any form survives has effectively stymied any export market, for now. Efforts are underway to reopen a tropical fruit disinfestation facility near Lihu‘e Airport, which would allow for exports to more lucrative markets on both sides of the Pacific Ocean.
Soboleski said fruit flies were particularly hard on papaya and guava, but in all, attack many hosts, including citrus, mangoes, peaches, breadfruit, bananas and tomatoes, to name just a few.
Jang said they don’t negatively impact coffee beans and macadamia nuts, because fruit flies are drawn to the flesh of the host.
These fruit flies are different from drosophila, which is a fruit fly that feeds on agricultural products that are already rotting.
Research on tephritid fruit flies in Hawai‘i dates back to the introduction of the melon fly in 1895.
Since 1895, four economically-important tephritid fruit-fly species have been accidentally introduced and established in the Hawaiian Islands. They are the melon fly, the Mediterranean fruit fly, the Oriental fruit fly and the Malaysian fruit fly, all considered very destructive pests.
Jang said the fruit fly most likely came to the Hawaiian Islands via the transfer of people and goods. It might have been part of rotten citrus, and gotten its hold there.
Soboleski said a fruit fly can live anywhere from 25 to 60 days, though he and Jang conceded it was hard to document because one does not exactly track a fruit fly.
Also, a fruit fly kept for observation purposes in a lab would likely not live as long as one in the field.
Jang pointed out that, at one time, Hawai‘i farmers had a strong citrus crop for export that was decimated by fruit flies, and that exportation of that crop had to be halted.
Jang said another economic-impact consideration that had to be taken into account was how many farmers decided to stop growing produce due to infestation.
Jang also pointed out the environmental impact of the fruit fly. He said scientists did not wish to depend upon organo-phosphates, pesticides which were bad for the environment and hazardous to people and animals, to control fruit flies.
He said and that research would continue to evolve, with researchers seeking more ecologically friendly ways to combat the pest.
Sobolseki said he does a great deal of work with “attractants,” chemicals and substances used to destroy fruit flies without negatively impacting other species, including mammals.
Soboleski devotes a good deal of space in the history to the evolutionary scientific efforts made to devise non-harmful but effective ways to control the pests.
Jang is now testing a novel method of killing Oriental fruit flies attracted to methyl eugenol. Jang said it would not be possible to totally eradicate fruit flies, due to funding and logistics.
- Andy Gross, business editor, may be reached at 245-3681 (ext. 251) or agross@pulitzer.net.
