History and development of food-based attractants

Authors: Epsky, Nancy; Kendra, Paul; Schnell, Elena

Submitted to: Trapping Tephritid Fruit Flies: Lures, Area-Wide Programs, and Trade Implications
Publication Type: Book / Chapter
Publication Acceptance Date: 6/29/2014
Publication Date: 10/1/2014
Publication URL: http://www.springer.com/978-94-017-9192-2
Citation: Epsky, N.D., Kendra, P.E., Schnell, E.Q. 2014. History and development of food-based attractants. In: Shelly, T.E., Epsky, N., Jang, E.B., Reyes-Flores, J., Vargas, R.I., editors. Trapping and Detection, Control, and Regulation of Tephritid Fruit Flies: Lures, Area-Wide Programs, and Trade Implications. 2104 edition. New York, New York: Springer. p. 75-118

Interpretive Summary: Tephritid fruit flies are the most important pests of fruits and vegetables worldwide. There has been a long history of research, much of it conducted by USDA/ARS scientists, that has led to the development of food-based lures used for detection and control of tephritid fruit flies. Because this research was initiated in the early 1900’s, many of the reports are in out-of-print or obscure publications. Therefore, scientists at SHRS reviewed the early history that started with investigations of sugar-based food baits and lead to the development of the liquid protein baits and synthetic protein-based food lures that are the standard food-lures in use currently. This will be published as a chapter in a book ‘Trapping Tephritid Fruit Flies: Lures, Area-Wide Programs, and Trade Implications.’ This book will provide a comprehensive overview of fruit fly trapping, and will include discussions of traps and lures; fruit fly ecology and detection; use of traps and lures for fruit fly population control; and the role of trapping in detection and trade. This information will be used by researchers, State and Federal Regulatory agencies, and fruit and vegetable growers.

Technical Abstract: Adult tephrids require sugar and protein for survival and for development of eggs, and volatile chemicals from these substances are the basis for food-based lures developed as baits for these pests. In this chapter, we discuss food-based lures that mimic food sources for adults other than host fruit. These have been primarily nitrogen sources that provide the protein needed by adult flies, although non-nitrogen containing volatile chemicals are also included in this category. After parapheromones, food-based lures have been the predominant attractants used in traps for tephritid fruit flies. Although typically not as powerful as parapheromones, food-based lures have several advantages over parapheromones. They can be used for species for which there are no parapheromones known; they capture both females and males of target species; they tend to be female-biased, that is, they capture a higher percentage of females than males; and, at least for the Mediterranean fruit fly, traps baited with food-based lures tend to capture flies earlier than traps baited with parapheromones. There has been a long history of research on the development of food-based attractants for pest tephritids. Several review articles have documented the early history, which started with investigations of sugar-based food lures and lead to the development of the liquid protein baits and synthetic protein-based food lures, the standard food-lures that are in use currently. In this chapter, we discuss the development of and, as much as possible, the diversity of food-based lures that have been tested and/or are used in traps for pest tephritids. Future research directions are also discussed.