Melissa Sepúlveda

Ms. Melissa Sepúlveda

Servicio Agrícola y Ganadero

Research Focus & Metrics

Academic Career Length

6Years (2021-Present)

(Calculated once Scilit publication data is synced: current year − year of first publication + 1)

Representative Publications

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22 April 2021 in Insects
Verified
Journal Article
Open access
PDF file
GSGregory Simmons
Gregory Simmons
MSMelissa Sepúlveda
Melissa Sepúlveda
EFEdith Fuentes
Edith Fuentes
MVMarcela Idalsoaga Villegas
Marcela Idalsoaga Villegas
RJRaul Enrique Medina Jimenez
Raul Enrique Medina Jimenez
HRHernán Donoso Riffo
Hernán Donoso Riffo
The European grapevine moth, a Palearctic pest, was first detected in the Americas in 2008. Its establishment in Chile presented production and export issues for grapes and other fruits, and a national control campaign was launched. Urban areas next to agricultural production areas were recognized as a challenge for effective control. In 2015, a SIT laboratory was established in Arica, Chile to evaluate its potential for urban control. Progress included the development and evaluation of artificial diets, a mass-rearing of 75,000 moths/week, confirmation of 150 Gy as an operational dose for inherited sterility, and releases of sterile moths in a 25 ha urban area next to fruit production areas. Season-long releases demonstrated that high overflooding ratios were achieved early in the season but decreased with a large increase in the wild moth population. Sterile moth quality was consistently high, and moths were observed living in the field up to 10 days and dispersing up to 800 m. Recommendations for further development of the SIT include conducting cage and field studies to evaluate overflooding ratios and mating competitiveness, measuring of infestation densities in release and no-release areas, and conducting trials to evaluate combining SIT with compatible integrated pest management (IPM) tactics such as fruit stripping and use of mating disruption.