Kiran Mahat

Queensland University of Technology | QUT · School of Earth, Environmental and Biological Sciences

The Chinese citrus fruit fly, Bactrocera (Tetradacus) minax (Enderlein), is one of the major citrus pests in Bhutan and can cause >50% mandarin (Citrus reticulata Blanco) fruit drop. As part of the development of a management strategy for the fly in mandarin orchards, population monitoring and experimental manipulations were carried out to determin...

Protein bait spray is a tool used widely in tephritid fruit fly pest (Diptera: Tephritidae) control and eradication programs. However, this technique might have a negative effect on non-target, beneficial insects. Aphytis lingnanensis is a very successful parasitoid of the California red scale, Aonidiella aurantii, a worldwide pest of citrus. Thoug...

Opiine braconids include natural enemies of tephritid fruit flies, and interest in their greater utilisation for fruit fly control is growing. However, there is a lack of basic data on the prevalence and impact of these wasps for most regions of Australia. We sampled fruit fly host fruits from urbanised and peri‐urban locations of south‐east Queens...

This study investigated the egg maturation rates and the effect of feeding and starvation on the egg load dynamics of Diachasmimorpha kraussii (Fullaway), a parasitoid of the Queensland fruit fly, Bactrocera tryoni (Froggatt). Three day old unfed parasitoids had significantly more mature eggs than 3-d old fed wasps. No egg resorption was observed i...

Mahat et al.2021.Barcode reference data set Fall Armyworm.Fig.S1.pdf

We report the first detection of Fall Armyworm (FAW), Spodoptera frugiperda (Smith, 1797), in Bhutan. FAW feeds on more than 300 plant species and is a serious pest of many. It has been spreading through Africa since 2016 and Asia since 2018. In Bhutan, this species was first detected in maize fields in the western part of the country in September...

In Australia Fopius arisanus (Sonan) is an established, but exotic fruit fly egg-larval-pupal parasitoid which co-occurs with Diachasmimorpha kraussii (Fullaway), a native larval-pupal fruit fly parasitoid: both attack the native fruit fly Bactrocera tryoni (Froggatt). In interactions involving evolutionary novel host-parasitoid associations, F. ar...

We report the first detection of Fall Armyworm (FAW), Spodoptera frugiperda (Smith, 1797), in Bhutan. FAW feeds on more than 300 plant species and is a serious pest of many. It has been spreading through Africa since 2016 and Asia since 2018. In Bhutan, this species was first detected in maize fields in the western part of the country in September...

This porste talks about the outcome of how we can manage the Chinese Citrus Fruit Fly through a community approach Using Protein Bait Sprays and Orchard Hygiene

The Potato Tuber Moth (PTM) is the most important insect pest of potato in the world and is increasingly becoming a very important pest of potato in Bhutan as well. Attracticides, a formulation containing synthetic pheromone mixed with an insecticide and applied as drops, was introduced from International Potato Center and evaluated for its use to...

Background: The Chinese citrus fruit fly, Bactrocera minax (Enderlein) is a major univoltine fruit fly pest of mandarin in Bhutan. In order to provide an environmentally friendly alternative to insecticidal cover sprays lures, that can potentially be used as baits in spot sprays, were field tested for their effectiveness in attracting and killin...

Introduction A broad leaf weed, Potamogeton distinctus, is the most serious weed of rice in Bhutan. With no chemical weed control strategies available, farmers rely on intensive hand weeding to manage this weed which adds up high labour costs. Up till now, no studies have tested or documented the effectiveness of herbicides against this weed in Bhu...

The use of malathion in fruit fly protein bait sprays has raised serious concerns due to its adverse effects on non-target organisms. This has necessitated the evaluation of novel reduced-risk compounds. This study evaluated the effects of spinosad, fipronil, malathion and chlorpyrifos mixed with fruit fly protein bait (Mauri Pinnacle protein®) on...

Background: The Chinese citrus fruit fly, Bactrocera minax (Enderlein) is a major univoltine fruit fly pest of mandarin in Bhutan. In order to provide an environmentally friendly alternative to insecticidal cover sprays, lures that can potentially be used as baits in spot sprays were field tested for their effectiveness in attracting and killing B....

Chilli pod borer is an important pest of chilli particularly in the early season crop. This study evaluated pheromone lures and traps and bio formulation, nuclear polyhedrosis virus, against combating the pest. Field studies using the pheromone lures and traps were conducted from 2009 to 2012 and nuclear polyhedrosis virus was evaluated in 2009 in...

S13P09 Evaluation of protein bait laced with various insecticides on the Queensland fruit fly (Diptera: Tephritidae): attraction, feeding, mortality and bait persistence Mahat K.1, and Drew R.A.I.2 1National Plant Protection Centre (NPPC), Department of Agriculture, Thimphu, Bhutan; and 2International Centre for the Management of Pest Fruit Flies (...