ABSTRACT

Stable flies are highly vagile and their dispersal ability appears to be limited only by the availability of hosts. In addition, stable fly larval developmental substrates are diverse, dispersed and often difficult to locate. This life history necessitates the use of area-wide integrated pest management (AW-IPM) strategies if effective control of stable flies is to be achieved, but complicates the use of the Sterile Insect Technique (SIT) and mating disruption technologies often employed in such programmes against other insect pests. Area-wide management of stable flies will require nationally or regionally coordinated implementation of traditional control methods, including sanitation/cultural, biological, and chemical technologies. An administrative structure will need to be implemented to coordinate, monitor, inspect and enforce compliance, especially if agronomic crop residues are integral to stable fly infestations. Research on stable fly developmental substrates and their management, larval and adult population dynamics, efficient and economical adult suppression systems, including traps and targets, is needed to improve the efficiency and economy of area-wide management of stable flies.