A New Visual Trap for Rhagoletis cerasi (L.) (Diptera: Tephritidae).

Claudia Daniel,Samuel Mathis,Georg Feichtinger

doi:10.3390/insects5030564

Abstract

The European cherry fruit fly, Rhagoletis cerasi (L.) (Diptera: Tephritidae), is the most important pest of sweet cherries in Europe. The aim of our experiments was to develop a new, cost-efficient, lead chromate-free and more eco-friendly trap for monitoring and mass trapping of R. cerasi. Five different-colored yellow panels and three different trap shapes were compared to a standard Rebell® amarillo trap in three experimental orchards in 2012. Trap color F, with a strong increase in reflectance at 500–550 nm and a secondary peak in the UV-region at 300–400 nm, captured significantly more flies than the standard Rebell® amarillo trap. Yellow traps with increased reflectance in the blue region (400–500 nm) were least attractive. Trap shape was of minor importance, as long as the object was three-dimensional and visible from all directions. Based on economic and practical considerations, a cylinder-shaped trap “UFA-Samen Kirschenfliegenfalle” was developed for commercial use and is currently under on-farm evaluation.

Highlights

The European cherry fruit fly, Rhagoletis cerasi (L.) (Diptera: Tephritidae), is the most important pest of sweet cherries Prunus avium (L.) L. in Europe
New methods have recently been developed for organic agriculture, such as biocontrol using the entomopathogenic fungus, Beauveria bassiana [8], or bait sprays with spinosad or Neem [9,10,11]
The highest catches were obtained in the second week after the beginning of the flight period during the warm and sunny period from May 22 to 29, 2012

Summary

Introduction

The European cherry fruit fly, Rhagoletis cerasi (L.) (Diptera: Tephritidae), is the most important pest of sweet cherries Prunus avium (L.) L. in Europe. The adult flies emerge from the soil in May and. Up to 100% of fruit can be infested [6]. R. cerasi poses a challenge to cherry growers because of the low tolerance level of the fresh market to damaged fruit, with a maximum of 2% of infested fruits. New methods have recently been developed for organic agriculture, such as biocontrol using the entomopathogenic fungus, Beauveria bassiana [8], or bait sprays with spinosad or Neem [9,10,11]. These methods require an exact determination of the first flight

Methods

Results

Conclusion