Seasonal Distribution and Abundance of Adult Male Oriental Fruit Flies (Diptera: Tephritidae) in Kula, Maui, Hawaii

Abstract

Seasonal occurrence of the oriental fruit fly, Dacus dorsalis Hendel, was monitored from 1979 to 1981. Sixty plastic traps baited with methyl eugenol were used to catch adult males in the Kula area of Maui, Hawaii. Total flies caught in the 60 traps were 188,636, 414,504, and 247,397 for 1979, 1980, and 1981, respectively. D. dorsalis activity peaked during late November 1979, early October 1980, and July 1981. In 1981, trap catches were significantly correlated with fruit infestations between 14 and 16 weeks following fruit collections. In all 3 years, significantly more flies were caught in lower elevations than in higher elevations. There were no significant differences in numbers of flies caught in 46 traps placed on host plants compared to those caught in 14 traps placed on nonhost plants. In some cases, however, significant year-to-year differences in trap catches were found for particular sites.