Skip to main content
ARS Home » Pacific West Area » Hilo, Hawaii » Daniel K. Inouye U.S. Pacific Basin Agricultural Research Center » Tropical Crop and Commodity Protection Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #262324
Title: Captures of bactrocera fruit flies (Diptera: Tephritidae) and nontarget insects in biolure and torula yeast traps in Hawaii

Author
item LEBLANC, LUC - University Of Hawaii
item Vargas, Roger
item RUBINOFF, DANIEL - University Of Hawaii

Submitted to: Journal of Chemical Ecology
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 11/1/2010
Publication Date: 5/15/2011
Citation: Leblanc, L., Vargas, R.I., Rubinoff, D. 2011. Captures of bactrocera fruit flies (Diptera: Tephritidae) and nontarget insects in biolure and torula yeast traps in Hawaii. Journal of Chemical Ecology. 39(5):1626-1630.

Interpretive Summary: Monitoring of fruit fly species that do not respond in large numbers to male-specific lures has relied on liquid protein food lures. However, these liquid lures require bulky traps and are hard to service. BioLure, a dry synthetic food attractant monitoring system has been developed as an alternative to liquid protein lures. This study conducted through Agricultural Research Service (ARS), U.S. Department of Agriculture, Pacific Basin Agricultural Research Center, Hilo, Hawaii, evaluated the attraction of Medflies and nontarget species in native forests, orchards, and residential areas of Hawaii to all or individual components of the BioLure system. BioLure is an effective attractant for Medflies, but also attracted large numbers of endemic flies when deployed in native forest areas. Continuous use in such habitats could cause loss of native or endemic insects. BioLure should be restricted to orchard and backyard habitats, where mostly introduced nontarget species occur, at a minimal safe distance of about 300 m from endemic forest. Results will help generate recommendations for the safe use of BioLure, and minimize the attraction of beneficial and endemic nontarget insects.

Technical Abstract: BioLure, a synthetic food attractant for Mediterranean fruit fly (Ceratitis capitata (Wiedemann)) that uses a combination of three chemical components (ammonium acetate, trimethylamine hydrochloride and putrescine), was deployed in MultiLure traps in predominantly native forests, non-native forests, farmlands, orchards and residential areas on the islands of Hawaii and Maui, to evaluate attraction of C. capitata and nontargets. Large numbers (as many as 156 per trap per day) of mainly saprophagous non-target flies (primarily Drosophilidae, Chloropidae, Lonchaeidae, Neriidae, Lonchaeidae, and Calliphoridae) were attracted to Bio-Lure. Very few predators, parasitoids or pollinators were attracted. Native species, predominantly drosophilid and calliphorid flies, were attracted in large numbers in endemic forests, but mostly (at least 88%) introduced species were collected in orchards, backyards and non-native forest. A comparison of attraction to the three separate components vs. the combined components revealed that ammonium acetate and, to a lesser extent, putrescine are the key components attractive to nontargets. Omitting the putrescine ingredient from BioLure did not drastically decrease C. capitata catches but reduced nontarget captures by 20%. These results suggest an alteration of this common attractant is warranted to reduce non-target impacts.