Post Mortem Gut Content Analysis for Determining the Contribution of Different Soil Predators to Control Bactrocera oleae

Abstract

Generalist predators such as spiders, earwigs or ground beetles are important natural enemies of agricultural pests. Determining the best candidate to perform a biological control is a complex task. However, molecular tools can overcome this issue. In this work a set of species-specific primers for Bactrocera oleae DNA has been tested in the gut of predatory arthropods picked up in an olive growing area of Madrid. These gut content analyses will assess the best candidates for the control of B. oleae populations along its life cycle.