The Galápagos Islands, the archipelago associated with Charles Darwin’s theory of natural selection and evolution, are a living symbol of endemic biodiversity. Today, however, at least 20 species of bird native to the islands—including several species of Darwin’s finches—are under threat from a parasitic fly, Philornis downsi. To protect the unique ecosystem of the islands, the IAEA’s technical cooperation department, with assistance from the Joint FAO/IAEA Division of Nuclear Techniques in Food and Agriculture, is supporting Ecuadorian experts as they study the basic and reproductive biology of this pest species to eventually rear the fly under laboratory conditions and test methods for its control.
Declared a World Heritage Site in 1978 by UNESCO, the Galápagos Islands have enjoyed broad and sustained interest from tourists around the world, welcoming more than 225 000 visitors each year. However, the growing volume of tourists has paved the way for the Philornis downsi to settle, a non-indigenous species of fly that was accidentally introduced to the islands in the luggage of travelling in visitors.
“The rapid and accelerated invasion of the parasitic fly is putting at risk the long-term conservation of the land birds of the Galápagos Islands,” said Paola Lahuatte, the manager of the Philornis laboratory at the Charles Darwin Foundation’s Research Station in Galápagos islands. “In its larval state, the fly feeds on the blood of defenseless hatchlings, causing anemia, morphological changes to the beak (which affects feeding) and often death. Its broad host range, adaptability and the lack of natural enemies has caused parasitism to reach very high levels. This is causing substantial losses of hatchlings in bird nests, annually.”
