Development of a Dry Plastic Insect Trap with Food-Based Synthetic Attractant for the Mediterranean and Mexican Fruit Flies (Diptera: Tephritidae)

Abstract

A dry plastic insect trap for monitoring populations of tephritid fruit flies is described. The plastic trap is constructed of acetate film that is painted to provide a visual cue and contains a toxic ant panel that provides a visual cue and a feeding stimulant to flies that have entered the trap. The trap baited with a 2-component blend of ammonium acetate and putrescine was tested against feral populations of the Mediterranean fruit fly, Ceratitis capitata (Wiedemann), and the Mexican fruit fly, Anastrepha ludens (Loew), in field trials conducted in Guatemala. The combination of ammonium acetate and putrescine was better than either ammonium acetate-only, putrescine-only, or unbaited traps. More female Mediternmean fruit flies were trapped in green traps than in colorless traps, and capture of male Mediternmean fruit flies was greater in yellow traps than in orange traps. Neither female nor male Mexican fruit flies differentiated among orange, green, and yellow traps, but the percentage trapped in any colored trap was higher than in colorless traps. McPhail traps with standard protein bait caught more Mexican fruit flies than either of the plastic traps at any of the doses of synthetic baits tested. However, plastic traps baited with either the medium or high dose of synthetic blend caught equal numbers of Mediterranean fruit flies as McPhail traps. Although McPhail traps caught more female Mediterranean fruit flies than plastic traps baited with the low dose of synthetic blend, a greater percentage of females captured in plastic traps were unmated (55-65% versus 22% in McPhail traps). Increase in dose of the synthetic lure increased the percentage of mated females captured in the plastic traps. Unlike McPhail traps, which catch large numbers of miscellaneous Diptera, the plastic traps were highly specific and caught few nontarget flies.