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The olive fruit fly Bactrocera oleae (Rossi) (Diptera: Tephritidae) is regarded as the most harmful pest insect for olive trees worldwide. In order to control olive fruit fly populations and mitigate the damage and economic losses they produce, the development of novel strategies to control the olive fruit fly within an integrated pest management scope has become a major concern. Here we show that a 24-h pre-exposure to the male-specific γ-hexalactone significantly reduces the oviposition on an artificial substrate. The number of eggs per female laid by those females pre-exposed to 1 mg of γ-hexalactone was significantly reduced (6.8 ± 6.1 eggs/female) in comparison to naïve (i.e., non-exposed) females (22.4 ± 10.9 eggs/female), yielding a mean oviposition activity index (OAI) of −0.56 ± 0.22. Contrarily, no significant effect was observed when females were pre-exposed to 0.5 mg of compound, even though the number of eggs per female (14.2 ± 6.3) was lower than that of naïve females, resulting in a mean OIA of −0.24 ± 0.17. Overall, this research represents a preliminary basis for delving into the potential of γ-hexalactone for being used as an oviposition disruptant, albeit further research is still required to address this issue.

The data we present are part of the CUARENTAGRI project, which involves all archipelagos of the Macaronesia (Azores, Madeira, Canary Islands and Cabo Verde). The project aims to: i) identify and evaluate the risks associated with the introduction of new arthropod pests; ii) study the population dynamics of selected arthropod pest species currently responsible for the damage of key target crops and iii) develop monitoring systems, based on prediction and/or population dynamics of the crop pests, creating warnings and a phytosanitary prevention system. In this contribution, we compile data for three Azorean Islands (Terceira, São Jorge and São Miguel Islands), where pheromone-baited traps were placed in pastures, potato fields and several orchards’ types (apples, banana, chestnuts, olives, orange and strawberry), during three consecutive years (2020, 2021 and 2022).A total of 114,827 specimens of insects (Arthropoda, Insecta) were collected, belonging to four orders, six families and ten recorded pest species. A total of eight species are considered introduced (Cosmopolites sordidus (Germar, 1824), Drosophila suzukii (Matsumura, 1931), Bactrocera oleae (Rossi, 1790), Ceratitis capitata (Wiedemann, 1824), Phthorimaea operculella (Zeller, 1873), Cydia pomonella (Linnaeus, 1758), Cydia splendana (Hübner, 1799) and Grapholita molesta (Busck, 1916); n = 84,986 specimens) and two native non-endemic (Mythimna unipuncta (Haworth, 1809) and Spodoptera littoralis (Boisduval, 1833); n = 17,465 specimens). This study intended to contribute to a better knowledge of the arthropods pests that can affect the Azorean crops and will serve as a baseline for future monitoring actions, pest risk assessments and prevention systems.

The effect of flower strips on ecosystem services (ESs) and disservices (EDs) is routinely assessed following changes in service provider densities without measuring the associated levels of ES/EDs. By using the sentinel approach (i.e., exposing a plant, seeds, and prey models in a standardized way), we tested how coriander (Coriandrum sativum) strips planted in mixed orchards on Terceira Island (Azores, Portugal) affected herbivory on lettuce plants, seed predation on wheat and weed seeds, and predation on artificial caterpillars. Vertebrates had more influence than invertebrates on ESs/EDs. Herbivory (ED) after 2 weeks was similar in the coriander and the control plots (mean ± SD; 2.3% ± 3.3% vs. 2.2% ± 2.9%, n = 32 for both). Seed predation was higher in the control than in the coriander plots for both grain (ED; 30.8% ± 38.9% vs. 15.3% ± 10.8%, n = 18 for both) and weed seeds (ES; 2.5% ± 4.1% vs. 0.4% ± 0.5%, n = 18 for both). Vertebrate predation (ES) rates after 48 h were significantly higher in the control (estimate 9%, 95% CI: 4–20%) than in the coriander plots (3%, 1–8%), while no difference was observed for invertebrate predation. Coriander strips did not support increased ES/reduced ED levels in this setting. The tools used can be effective to quantitatively compare multiple ESs/EDs under different farming management strategies.