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ARS Home » Southeast Area » Gainesville, Florida » Center for Medical, Agricultural and Veterinary Entomology » Chemistry Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #61143
Title: IMPORVED PHEROMONE-BASED TRAPPING SYSTEMS TO MONITOR TOXOTRYPANA CURVICAUDA (DIPTERA: TEPHRITIDAE)

Author
item Heath, Robert
item Epsky, Nancy
item JIMENEZ, B. - CENTERO DE DESARROLLO DO
item Dueben, Barbara
item Landolt, Peter
item MEYER, WENDY - UNIV FLA, IFAS
item ALJUA, M. - APHIS-PPQ, GUATEMALA
item RIZZO, J. - APHIS-PPQ, GUATEMALA
item CAMINO, M. - CENTRO DE DESARROLLO DO
item JERONIMO, F. - APHIS-PPQ, GUATEMALA

Submitted to: Florida Entomologist
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 9/22/1995
Publication Date: N/A
Citation: N/A

Interpretive Summary: The papaya fruit fly is a major pest of commercial papaya worldwide. Because of this threat, much emphasis has been placed on the development of traps and lures to detect and control this insect pest. Previous research found that a green sphere coated with sticky material and baited with pheromone was effective in trapping papaya fruit fly females and males. Applicability of this trapping system for general field use, however, was limited by the fragile nature of the pheromone lure and the short life span of the trap adhesive. Therefore, scientists at the Insect Attractants, Behavior, and Basic Biology Research Laboratory in Gainesville, Florida, developed a membrane-based formulation system that provided a durable lure that released a constant amount of pheromone for at least three weeks. Comparisons of the lure used with both spherical and cylindrical traps in tests conducted in Florida, Mexico and Guatemala found that the use of the membrane-based synthetic pheromone in a cylindrical trap may provide an effective tool for monitoring papaya fruit flies.

Technical Abstract: A formulation method using a membrane-based system that provides a stable release rate of synthetic pheromone for the papaya fruit fly, Toxotrypana curvicauda Gerstaecker was developed. Release rate measurements over 23 days indicated that lures loaded with 5, 15, 25, and 50 ul of synthetic pheromone released an average of 120, 360, 580 and 1120 ng per hr and the half-life of the lures was estimated to be 67, 184, 300 and 48 days, respectively. Field tests conducted in Mexico compared efficacy of blank and pheromone-baited sticky green spheres, green cylindrical traps containing a toxicant or coated with sticky material, and cylindrical traps prepared from green adhesive paper. Green cylindrical traps containing a toxicant and cylindrical traps made from green adhesive paper captured approximately five times more papaya fruit flies than either the sticky coated green cylindrical traps or the sticky-coated green spheres. In similar tests conducted in Guatemala, capture was highest in the cylindrical traps made from green adhesive paper and in sticky coated green spheres. Use of the membrane-based synthetic pheromone in a cylindrical trap may provide an effective tool for monitoring papaya fruit flies.