Next-Generation Integrated Pest Management of Tephritid Fruit Flies: Ecology, Innovation and Sustainable Control

Tephritid fruit flies (Diptera: Tephritidae) are among the most economically significant agricultural pests worldwide, causing substantial losses in fruit and vegetable production and posing major challenges to agricultural trade. Their distribution and economic impact are increasing due to globalisation, biological invasions, changing agricultural landscapes, and climate change. Conventional management relies heavily on chemical insecticides, raising concerns about pesticide resistance, environmental contamination, pesticide residues, and adverse effects on non-target organisms. Integrated Pest Management (IPM) offers a sustainable framework for addressing these challenges by combining ecological knowledge with complementary control strategies. Recent advances in semiochemical-based technologies, microbial attractants, biological control, sustainable biopesticides, sterile insect techniques, and artificial intelligence offer new opportunities for improving fruit fly management. However, integrating these innovations into effective, economically viable, and environmentally sustainable IPM programmes remains a major research challenge, highlighting the need for multidisciplinary research that connects ecological understanding with innovative monitoring and control technologies.The primary goal of this Research Topic is to address the growing challenges associated with the sustainable management of economically important tephritid fruit flies by advancing innovative, integrated, and environmentally compatible pest management strategies. Despite considerable progress in individual control technologies, conventional insecticide-based approaches remain widely used, while the integration of ecological knowledge, biological control, semiochemical-based technologies, microbial approaches, and emerging digital tools into practical Integrated Pest Management (IPM) programmes remains limited. This Research Topic aims to bridge these gaps by bringing together fundamental and applied research on fruit fly ecology, behaviour, population dynamics, host interactions, and responses to environmental change. It will promote the development and evaluation of novel monitoring systems, microbial attractants, biopesticides, biological control agents, sterile insect techniques, and AI-assisted precision management. Particular emphasis will be placed on integrating complementary control strategies, validating their effectiveness under field conditions, assessing their economic feasibility and environmental safety, and improving their scalability. Ultimately, the Research Topic seeks to support the development of effective, regionally adaptable, and sustainable IPM programmes that reduce reliance on conventional insecticides while improving long-term tephritid fruit fly management.This Research Topic welcomes contributions on the biology, ecology, behaviour, population dynamics, host–plant interactions, invasion ecology, and climate-related responses of economically important tephritid fruit flies. Specific themes include innovative monitoring and surveillance systems, semiochemical-based attractants, behavioural manipulation, mass trapping, attract-and-kill strategies, biological control, microbial and microbiome-based approaches, sustainable biopesticides, sterile insect techniques, and genetic technologies. Contributions addressing artificial intelligence, smart trapping, automated insect identification, predictive modelling, precision agriculture, agroecological practices, and area-wide Integrated Pest Management (IPM) are particularly encouraged. Studies evaluating the integration, field efficacy, economic feasibility, environmental safety, and scalability of complementary management strategies are also welcome. The Research Topic invites Original Research, Review, Systematic Review, Methods, and Perspective articles, as well as other relevant manuscript types supported by the journal. Multidisciplinary contributions combining ecological understanding with innovative monitoring and control technologies, particularly those demonstrating practical applications and sustainable management outcomes, are strongly encouraged. Topic editors: Qaiser Javed, Renata Bažok, Elda Vitanović, Jianfan Sun Source: https://www.frontiersin.org/research-topics/86847/next-generation-integrated-pest-management-of-tephritid-fruit-flies-ecology-innovation-and-sustainable-control