Attraction of the West Indian fruit fly to mango fruit volatiles

Abstract

In this study, we investigated the attraction of West Indian fruit fly, Anastrepha obliqua (Macquart) (Diptera: Tephritidae), to volatiles of three mango [Mangifera indica L. (Anacardiaceae)] cultivars in field cage tests. The number of flies captured with Multilure traps baited with Amate mature green mangoes was significantly higher than that captured in traps baited with Coche and Ataulfo fruits. There was no significant difference between the number of flies captured in traps baited with Coche or Ataulfo mangoes. Gas chromatography-mass spectrometry analysis of mango fruit volatiles identified 24, 22, and 19 compounds for Amate, Ataulfo, and Coche mango cultivars, respectively. A principal component analysis of the volatiles revealed that the Amate mango was more distant from the Ataulfo mango, and the latter cultivar was closer to the Coche mango. The compounds myrcene, α-pinene, β-selinene, and trans-β-ocimene were the most abundant in Amate mangoes, whereas 3-carene, β-selinene, terpinolene, and α-pinene were the predominant compounds of Ataulfo cultivars. In the Coche mango, the predominant compounds were 3-carene, β-selinene, terpinolene, and limonene. Traps baited with a blend of myrcene, α-pinene, and trans-β-ocimene captured more A. obliqua females and males than control traps. Flies were more attracted to the Super Q volatile extracts of Amate mango than to the three-component blend formulated in a ratio of 1:1:1. However, there was no significant difference between the number of flies caught by traps baited with Amate mango extracts and that caught by traps baited with the three-blend component when this was formulated according to the relative proportions in the mango extracts. Traps baited with myrcene, the major component, caught fewer flies than traps baited with Amate mango extracts.