Objective:
Search for, collect, colonize, and ship geographical populations of the olive fruit fly parasitoid, Psyttalia lounsburyi, for release and establishment in southern France.

Approach:
Areas in east Africa (Kenya) and south Africa (South Africa, Namibia) will be collected from wild olive species. Olives suspected of being infested with olive fruit flies will be collected and held for emergence of parasitoids, or shipped directly to EBCL for emergence in quarantine and colonizated separately. INRA personnel will be training in rearing techniques, and attempts willl be made to distinguish geographically different populations using molecular techniques.