Research interests

• Market access and quarantine treatments  
• Ecology and management of fruit fly 
• Sterile insect technique and biological control of fruit flies

Background

Andrew is employed by the NSW Department of Industry & Investment as a Research Horticulturist studying postharvest market access strategies for fresh Australian horticultural commodities against Australian fruit flies, in particular, Bactrocera tryoni, Froggatt (Queensland fruit fly).

He has conducted research on various postharvest disinfestation treatments. Studies were carried out on product tolerance to the treatment, chemical residue analysis and insecticidal efficacy. Products studied include apples, avocados, blueberries, capsicums, cherries, grapes, kiwifruit, lemons, lychee, mangoes, melons, nashi, nectarines, oranges, peaches, pears, plums, strawberries, tomatoes, cut flowers and nursery planting material. Quarantine treatments studied include cold storage, hot water dipping, fumigation with ethylene dibromide and methyl bromide, controlled atmospheres with or without elevated carbon dioxide concentrations, atmospheres modified by plastic wrap or edible coatings, gamma irradiation and insecticide dips.

As a result of this research, export submissions have been sent to Japan, the USA, New Zealand, Indonesia, Korea, some Pacific Island nations and interstate for market access of Australian produce.

Other research includes biological control of fruit flies with combinations of parasitoids, monitoring and trapping, baiting, studies on ecology and behaviour. Improvements to Queensland fruit fly baits and traps have progressed to commercial / cultural beta-testing.

2008 to 2011 -  Seconded to the Food and Agricultural Organisation / International Atomic Energy Agency (FAO/IAEA), Insect Pest Control Sub-programme Laboratories at Seibersdorf, Austria, as a Research Entomologist to manage UN-funded overseas fruit fly management projects and research fruit fly mass-rearing technologies for Sterile Insect Techniques programmes.

Current appointments and activities

• Research Horticulturist, NSW Department of Industry & Investment
• Research Entomologist FAO/IAEA, Vienna, Austria (to February 2011) 
• Member, Technical Panel on Phytosanitary Treatments (International Plant Protection Convention)
• Member, Australian Entomological Society
• Member, NSW DII Fruit Fly Research and Technical Team

Qualifications

• BScAgr University of Sydney, 1980 
• MSc - University of New South Wales, 1990

Current projects

FAO/IAEA, Seibersdorf, Austria

• Programs to develop methods for mass-rearing fruit fly species for the Sterile Insect Technique (SIT). \Management of multi-national programmes on using SIT as a component of area-wide Integrated Pest Management.
• Species currently being studied include Anastrepha fraterculus, Bactrocera cucurbitae, B. dorsalis, B. invadens, B. oleae, Ceratitis capitata and various geographical and sex-linked mutations of some species.
• Co-operative Research Projects and Technical Co-operation projects on Bactrocera oleae in Israel, Palestine and Jordan; mass rearing of fruit flies other than Ceratitis capitata for SIT purposes; practical solutions relating to cryptic fruit fly species complexes (e.g. the B. dorsalis complex).

NSW DII, Australia

• Native parasitic wasps: a new eradication tool against fruit fly incursion management (funded by CRC NPB PhD stipend, Riverina Citrus Voluntary Funds and HAL Matching Voluntary Contribution Funds) 
• Rearing parasitic wasps on irradiated Queensland fruit fly eggs and larvae (funded by USRMRI and Australian Institute of Nuclear Science and Engineering Grants)

Selected Publications

De Lima CPF, Jessup AJ, Cruickshank L, Walsh CJ, Collie HM and Mansfield ER (in print NZ Journal of Crop and Horticultural Science). Cold disinfestation of citrus using different temperature x time combinations as quarantine treatments for Mediterranean fruit fly and Queensland fruit fly.

Jessup AJ, Dominiak B, Woods B, De Lima CPF, Tomkins A and Smallridge C (2005) Area-Wide Management of Fruit Flies in Australia. (2005). Book chapter: International Conference on Area-Wide Control of Insect Pests, IAEA Vienna 9 13 May 2005.

Cruickshank L, Jessup AJ and Cruickshank DJ (2001) Interspecific crosses of Bactrocera tryoni (Froggatt) with Bactrocera jarvisi (Tryon) (Diptera: Tephritidae) in the laboratory. Australian Journal of Entomology, 40(3): ().

Jessup AJ, Sloggett RF and Quinn NM (1998) Quarantine disinfestation of blueberries against Bactrocera tryoni, Froggatt (Diptera: Tephritidae) by cold storage. Journal of Economic Entomology 91(4): 964-967.

Jessup AJ, Carswell IF and Dalton SP (1998) Disinfestation of fresh fruits against Bactrocera tryoni, Froggatt (Diptera: Tephritidae) with combination mild heat and modified atmosphere packaging. Australian Journal of Entomology 37: 186-188.

Jessup AJ and Walsh CJ (1998) Sex-ratios of non-diapausal and diapausal laboratory-reared Diachasmimorpha tryoni Cameron (Hymenoptera: Braconidae) - a larval parasitoid of Bactrocera tryoni, Froggatt (Diptera: Tephritidae). General and Applied Entomology 28: 77-80.

Jessup AJ, Dalton SP and Sloggett RF (1998) Determination of host status to Queensland fruit fly, Bactrocera tryoni, Froggatt (Diptera: Tephritidae) for export to New Zealand. General and Applied Entomology 28: 74-75.

Chervin C, Jessup A, Hamilton A, Kreidle S, Kulkarni S, and Franz P (1998) Nonchemical disinfestation: combining the combinations additive effects of combination of three postharvest treatments on insect mortality and pome fruit quality. Acta Hort. 464:273-278.

Fields of Research

• 070603 Horticultural Crop Protection (Pests, Diseases and Weeds)
• 070605 Post Harvest Horticultural Technologies (incl. Transportation and Storage)

Keyword/Phrase list of research interests

• Fruit fly 
• Sterile insect technique
• Biological control 
• Ecology 
• Market access 
• Commodity treatment