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ARS Home » Pacific West Area » Wapato, Washington » Temperate Tree Fruit and Vegetable Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #289844
Title: A four-component synthetic attractant for Drosophila suzukii (Diptera: Drosophilidae) isolated from fermented bait headspace

Author
item Cha, Dong
item ADAMS, TODD - Oregon Department Of Agriculture
item Werle, Christopher
item Sampson, Blair
item Adamczyk, John
item ROGG, HELMUTH - Oregon Department Of Agriculture
item Landolt, Peter

Submitted to: Pest Management Science
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 4/20/2013
Publication Date: 4/30/2013
Publication URL: http://handle.nal.usda.gov/10113/58295
Citation: Cha, D.H., Adams, T., Werle, C.T., Sampson, B.J., Adamczyk Jr, J.J., Rogg, H., Landolt, P.J. 2013. A four-component synthetic attractant for Drosophila suzukii (Diptera: Drosophilidae) isolated from fermented bait headspace. Pest Management Science. 70:324-331.

Interpretive Summary: Spotted wing drosophila (SWD) is a newly introduced pest of numerous fruit crops that is spreading rapidly through the western U.S., including areas of extensive commercial fruit production. Trapping with fermented food baits (chiefly vinegar) is presently the means of detecting and monitoring the fly, and warning growers of the need to apply insecticides. Currently, there are no chemical attractants identified and no synthetic chemical lures for SWD. Researchers at the USDA-ARS laboratory in Wapato, Washington, in collaboration with scientists at the Oregon Department of Agriculture, Salem, Oregon, and ARS Poplarville, MS, are developing synthetic chemical attractants for SWD for use in detection and management. Using a series of laboratory and field bioassays, these researchers determined that of 15 wine and vinegar chemicals that elicit antennal responses, only 4 are needed for optimum attraction of the flies in the field. This result provides a synthetic attractant that will be useful for developing a lure for detection, monitoring and management of SWD.

Technical Abstract: BACKGROUND: A mixture of wine and vinegar is highly attractive to spotted wing drosophila (SWD) Drosophila suzukii (Matsumura) (Diptera: Drosophilidae), and ethanol and acetic acid are considered key to SWD attraction to such materials. In addition to ethanol and acetic acid, thirteen other wine and vinegar volatiles are antennally active to SWD. RESULTS: Out of the 13 chemicals, acetoin, ethyl lactate and methionol were co-attractive with the mixture of acetic acid and ethanol in field trapping experiments. A 5-component blend of acetic acid, ethanol, acetoin, ethyl lactate and methionol was as attractive as the starting mixture of wine and vinegar in field tests conducted at two geographically distant locations, Oregon and Mississippi. Subtracting ethyl lactate from the 5-component blend did not affect the attractiveness of the blend. However, subtracting any other compounds from the blend significantly reduced the numbers of flies captured. CONCLUSION: These results indicate that acetic acid, ethanol, acetoin and methionol are key olfactory cues for SWD when attracted to wine and vinegar, and potentially when responding to fermenting fruit in nature. We anticipate that this 4-component blend can be used to develop a highly attractive chemical lure with potential for use in detection and management of SWD.