Field Evaluation of Eight Attractant Traps forBactrocera minax(Diptera: Tephritidae) in a Navel Orange Orchard in China

Abstract

The Chinese citrus fly, Bactrocera minax (Enderlein) (Diptera: Tephritidae), is the most destructive pest in many citrus orchards of south central China. Methyl eugenol and cuelure, 2 potent male lures that are effective for capturing related species, are believed not to attract this species. Limited knowledge is available about the effectiveness of attractant traps for this pest. A field trial was carried out to determine the efficacy of 8 attractant traps to B. minax. The study was conducted during the adult occurrence season in an orchard of navel orange, Citrus sinensis (L.) Osbeck (Rutaceae), in Zhijiang County, Hunan Province, China, in 2016. To link the efficacy of these attractant traps with the pest population, fruit infestations in the orchard also were investigated. As expected, this study confirmed that methyl eugenol and cuelure were not attractive to B. minax. Green-colored sticky spheres trapped significantly more flies and males than methyl eugenol and cuelure-baited traps. On average, ammonium acetate putrescine trapped more females than males, but it was not statistically better than any of the other tested attractant traps. Fruit infestation rates by B. minax ranged from 0.7 to 11.1% in the replicates. Judging by the results of trapping and actual field infestation, it appears that trap effectiveness of the 8 attractant traps was low. A more potent attractant trap is needed, especially for early detection of the pest.