Field evaluation of alternative trap designs and dispenser types to maximise the trap catch of cucurbit fruit flies Amsa T.1,*, Sithanantham S.2, Suganthy M.3, Sundari M. S. Nalina1, Nalini M.4 1Department of Zoology, Queen Mary's College, Chennai, 600004 2Sun Agro Biotech Research Centre, Porur, Chennai, 600125 3Department of Entomology, Tamil Nadu Agriculture College, Coimbatore, 641003 4Poompuhar College, Melaiyur, 609107, Sirkali Taluk, Nagapattinam *Corresponding author Email: amsanaga15@gmail.com
Online published on 5 February, 2019. Abstract The melon fly (Bactrocera cucurbitae Coquillett) is the most common fruit fly species infesting cucurbit vegetables and often causing significant loss in marketable yields. While the parapheromone-cue lure (4-(p-acetoxyphenyl)-2-butanone) is globally used as attractant for trapping the adult males of B. cucurbitae, there is good scope for improved trap design and/or dispenser types in enhancing their impact in monitoring and/or mass trapping. The present field studies on trapping the melon fly with cue lure (CL) showed that the white plastic jar type was superior, while the delta trap type was next best among four trap types compared. Among four alternative dispenser types, the larger plywood discs (large, medium) were found to be superior, compared to the small plywood disc which was on par with vial plus wick. When cue lure was deployed without blending, the more promising trap-dispenser combinations was the cylindrical jar in combination with large disc or medium disc, whereas when cue lure was blended (with methyl eugenol), the superior combinations were cylindrical jar with either large disc or vial with wick as dispenser. The implication of the results in choice of alternative traps/lure dispensers in deploying cue lure alone or blended for cucurbit fruit fly catch maximisation is discussed. Top Keywords Cucurbit fruit fly, trap design, dispenser type, cue lure, blending, trap catch, cue lure, delta trap. Top |