Skip to main content
ARS Home » Southeast Area » Mayaguez, Puerto Rico » Tropical Crops and Germplasm Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #259434
Title: Food-based lure performance in three locations in Puerto Rico: attractiveness to Anastrepha suspensa and A. obliqua (Diptera;Tephritidae)

Author
item Jenkins, David
item Epsky, Nancy
item Kendra, Paul
item Heath, Robert
item Goenaga, Ricardo

Submitted to: Florida Entomologist
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 1/21/2011
Publication Date: 6/1/2011
Citation: Jenkins, D.A., Epsky, N.D., Kendra, P.E., Heath, R.R., Goenaga, R.J. 2011. Food-based lure performance in three locations in Puerto Rico: attractiveness to Anastrepha suspensa and A. obliqua (Diptera;Tephritidae). Florida Entomologist. 94(2):186-194.

Interpretive Summary: Fruit flies in the genus Anastrepha can be serious pests of fruit crops. The presence of these flies in a region means that fruit from that locality are subject to export restrictions and/or expensive and potentially damaging treatments after the fruit is harvested. Monitoring and detecting these flies remains an important focus of agencies trying to prevent the establishment of these flies in new regions. Trap design and bait components continue to merit study. We compared a number of lures and lure combinations in use by scientists to monitor/detect these flies in Puerto Rico. Our results indicated that a corn-based protein that is commonly used, Nulure, was not as attractive as other lures or lure combinations, including ammonium acetate and putrescine (either in separate packs in the same trap or combined in one package) or ammonium acetate and putrescine in combination with freeze-dried Nulure. Similar studies in the Dominican Republic and in Central America indicated the ammonium acetate lure was not as attractive to the fruit flies as a lure similar to Nulure. Our results strongly imply that a single lure will not necessarily be the most effective one at every location for monitoring and detecting fruit flies species and that and that detection should be tailored to regional needs.

Technical Abstract: Lures based on odors released by hydrolyzed protein were assessed for their attractiveness to Anastrepha obliqua and A. suspensa at three locations in Puerto Rico in August through October 2009. Lures compared included ammonium acetate combined with putrescine, hydrolyzed corn protein (Nulure) with borax, freeze-dried Nulure, freeze-dried Nulure in combination with ammonium acetate, freeze-dried Nulure in combination with ammonium acetate and putrescine, and the Unipak lure, a single lure containing ammonium acetate and putrescine. Where the distribution of trapped flies departed significantly from what would be expected given an equal attraction of the baits, Nulure and freeze-dried Nulure always attracted fewer flies than the other baits tested, regardless of species, sex, or location. Although all of the baits or bait combinations containing ammonium acetate attracted more flies than the Nulure or freeze-dried Nulure baits, there was a distinct trend of ammonium acetate and putrescine and the Unipak lures attracting more flies after the fourth week of the study and for the freeze-dried Nulure with ammonium acetate or in combination with ammonium acetate and putrescine to attract more flies in the first four weeks of the study. This trial is unique in that it was conducted in orchards of carambola, Averrrhoa carambola (Oxalidaceae), a poor host for both of these fly species. Our results are compared with other studies on lures of A. obliqua and A. suspensa and the implications for monitoring/detecting pest Tephritidae are discussed.