Comparison of ceralure and trimedlure controlled-release formulations for male mediterranean fruit flies in C&C traps

Abstract

Ceralure or trimedlure polymeric TNO panels in C&C traps were compared for attractancy by the capture of male Mediterranean fruit flies, Ceratitis capitata (Wiedemann). This study contrasts the effectiveness of ceralure with trimedlure, the former of which is an iodo-analog of trimedlure. Field tests in Hawaii with released flies showed that the active ceralure B1 isomer in a commercial mixture of ceralure isomers consistently caught as many male flies as active trimedlure C isomer in a commercial mixture of trimedlure isomers at one-half the molar quantity of trimedlure C. These panels caught 6.4 and 5.2 times, for ceralure and trimedlure, respectively, more than the standard 2 g trimedlure AgriSense aged plug over a 26-week period. The persistence of ceralure is demonstrated by residual analyses of aged panels that revealed the presence of 2.75 times more ceralure than trimedlure in panels after 130 days of field exposure.