Identifying and characterizing hot spots of Mediterranean fruit fly (Ceratitis capitata)

The Mediterranean fruit fly (Medfly) Ceratitis capitata  is a key pest of citrus and many other fruits. Broadly, our aim is to characterize the conditions that support the Medfly populations and integrate this knowledge into Area Wide Management (AWM) program, on a regional level.
This project is in collaboration with Dr. Miriam Silberstein (Northern R&D / MIGAL) and Opher Mendelsohn (Tel-Aviv University).

​Publication:
Mendelsohn O, Dayan T, Aidlin-Harari S, Silberstein M, Orlov V and Blank L (2018). Mediterranean fruit fly sub-plot hotspots prediction by experts' experience. Journal of Applied Entomology 142:371-379 [pdf] Journal Link
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Pattern of Medfly female dispersal.

The effect of local and landscape variables on pests distribution adopting the ecoinformatics approach

The goal of this study is to characterize the effects of various local and landscape variables on the population density of pests. We use data collected in multiple growing seasons and include up to thousand of monitoring traps. Understanding the factors that affect the occurrence of various pests can improve farmers' decision-making. 

Publications:
Krasnov H, Cohen Y, Goldshtein E, Mendelsohn O, Silberstein M, Gazit Y and Blank L (2019). The effect of local and landscape variables on Mediterranean fruit fly dynamics in citrus orchards utilizing the ecoinformatics approach. Journal of Pest Science 92: 453-463 [pdf] Journal Link

Krasnov H, Cohen Y, Goldshtein E, Silberstein M, Gazit Y and Blank L (2021). Empirical evidence of the Mediterranean fruit fly movement between orchard types. Journal of Applied Entomology 145: 417-426 [pdf] Journal Link

Krasnov H, Cohen Y, Goldshtein E, Ovadia S, Sharon R, Harari AR and Blank L (2021). Inconsistent effects of local and landscape factors on two key pests in Israeli vineyards. Journal of Applied Entomology 145: 900-910 [pdf] Journal Link

Medfly field mark–release–recapture experiment