Traps for fruit flies (Diptera: Tephritidae): their mode of action and efficacy

Abstract

Abstract For as long as fruit flies in the dipteran family Tephritidae have been recognised as pests in fruit and vegetable production, workers have been developing traps for both monitoring and pest management. These traps have used many different shapes, construction materials and lures and have demonstrated a wide variety of efficacies. Further, over a century of research has been undertaken on tephritid fruit fly trapping, some of which has led to significant economic applications. Such is the extent of research and publications on this subject that it has been possible, in this paper, to refer only to a limited number of key published works. The recent development of the Fruition® Fruit Fly Trap technology and its subsequent models has been based on 6 years of extensive field research that has led to a new understanding of factors that influence fruit fly attraction and trap efficacy, particularly in the quest to target successfully the mature egg-laying female fly. The use of traps has become essential in the monitoring, management and understanding of fruit fly populations across the world, and thus the historical development of fruit fly traps and lures, their modes of action, and influencing factors on trap efficacy are discussed in this paper.