Abstract Global trade of plant products represents a major driving force for the spread of invasive insect pests. This visualisation illustrates the problem of unintended dispersal of economically harmful fruit fly pests (Diptera: Tephritidae) using geospatial tools and a time series of interception data from the Swiss import control system. Furthermore, it reports the development of a molecular diagnostic assay for rapid identification of these pests at points of entry (POEs) such as sea- and airports as a prevention measure. The assay reliably differentiates between target and non-target species within one hour and has been successfully evaluated for on-site use at a Swiss POE. Video link https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d4Bv1E0pUoc Background Introduction and dispersal of invasive insect pests into regions outside their native ranges can lead to substantial economic dam- age for local agriculture (Bacon et al., 2012; Horton et al., 2013). One of the primary means for the movement of non-indigenous insects is their inadvertent spread through global trade (Bacon et al., 2012; Horton et al., 2013). Invasive insects are vectored along major trading routes, as contaminants of a variety of import prod- ucts, such as forest and agricultural goods, ornamental plants, nursery stocks, and also within packaging material (Horton et al., 2013; Blaser et al., 2018). Moreover, insect pests are carried along as stowaways of transport vehicles, such as aeroplanes, cargo trains, ships and trucks (Horton et al., 2013; Blaser et al., 2018). Additionally, the global spread of invasive pests is further facili- tated through international tourism and environmental effects due to changes in climate and land use (Armstrong and Ball, 2005). Fruit fly species of the family Tephritidae are among the eco- nomically most harmful invasive insect pests (Vargas et al., 2015). Due to their ability to feed on a wide range of fruits and fleshy vegetables and their high reproductive capacity, numerous species of this family have the potential to cause serious crop losses, and hence, constitute a worldwide threat for fruit and vegetable pro- ducers and traders (Vargas et al., 2015). Bactrocera dorsalis, the oriental fruit fly, is a prominent example of a highly invasive and destructive fruit fly pest (Theron et al., 2017). First recorded in Taiwan in 1912, the species dispersed throughout Southeast Asia, the Pacific region, and sub-Saharan Africa (Shi et al., 2010; Vargas et al., 2015; Theron et al., 2017). Several transient intro- Correspondence: Simon Blaser, Agroscope, Müller-Thurgau-Strasse 29, CH-8820 Wädenswil, Switzerland. Tel.: +41.58.468.6063 - Fax: +41.58.460.6341. E-mail: simon.blaser@agroscope.admin.ch Key words: Invasive fruit fly pests; Plant health inspections; Point of entry diagnostics; Loop-mediated isothermal amplification. Acknowledgements: the authors would like to thank Annette Grendelmeier, Aurelia Drenovac, Cornelia Studer, Sven Moeller, Elisabeth Razavi, Seraina Vonzun, Daniel Frei and Markus Oggenfuss for participating in the evaluation of the fruit fly LAMP assay. Additionally, two anonymous referees are acknowledged for providing a series of useful comments and suggestions. Contributions: SB, CH, AvF, MA, NB, JT, PM, JU, JEF and AB, con- ception of project; SB, HD, MG, BF and AB, analysis and interpretation of data; SB, manuscript writing; CH, HD, AvF, MG, MA, NB, JT, PM, JU, JEF, BF and AB, critical revision of manuscript; SB and CH, imple- mentation of video; SB, CH, HD, AvF, MG, MA, NB, JT, PM, JU, JEF, BF and AB, final approval of manuscript and video prior to submission. Conflict of interest: MA is a shareholder of OptiGene Limited that pro- vided part of the materials used in this study. Funding: none. Received for publication: 23 July 2018. Revision received: 12 October 2018. Accepted for publication: 19 October 2018. ©Copyright S. Blaser et al., 2018 Licensee PAGEPress, Italy Geospatial Health 2018; 13:726 doi:10.4081/gh.2018.726 This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Noncommercial License (CC BY-NC 4.0) which permits any noncommercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, pro- vided the original author(s) and source are credited. Dispersal of harmful fruit fly pests by international trade and a loop-mediated isothermal amplification assay to prevent their introduction Simon Blaser, 1-3 Cornelia Heusser, 1 Hanspeter Diem, 4 Andreas von Felten, 5 Morgan Gueuning, 1 Michael Andreou, 6 Neil Boonham, 7,8 Jennifer Tomlinson, 7 Pie Müller, 2,3 Jürg Utzinger, 2,3 Jürg E. Frey, 1 Beatrice Frey, 1 Andreas Bühlmann 1 1 Agroscope, Wädenswil, Switzerland; 2 Swiss Tropical and Public Health Institute, Basel, Switzerland; 3 University of Basel, Basel, Switzerland; 4 Federal Office for Agriculture, Zurich Airport, Switzerland; 5 Federal Office for Agriculture, Bern, Switzerland; 6 OptiGene Limited, Horsham, United Kingdom; 7 The Food and Environment Research Agency, York, United Kingdom; 8 Newcastle University, Newcastle upon Tyne, United Kingdom [page 370] [Geospatial Health 2018; 13:726] Geospatial Health 2018; volume 13:726 Non-commercial use only