Systems to Monitor and Suppress Ceratitis Capitata (Diptera: Tephritidae) Populations

Abstract

A synthetic food-based attractant, and a painted cylindrical dry trap that protects the synthetic lures from the environment, were developed to replace liquid protein-baited traps. This trapping system was tested for capture of the Mediterranean fruit fly, Ceratitis capitata (Wiedemann). The dry trap is constructed of acetate film with a painted band that provides a visual cue; it contains internally-placed toxicant panels to kill flies that enter the trap. Field trials conducted in Guatemala suggested that a solid-colored material could be substituted for the painted trap body. We also evaluated a sticky insert made from commercially produced adhesive paper as a replacement for the toxicant panels. Unlike paintable sticky adhesives, the sticky material on the adhesive paper insert does not adhere to the skin of personnel who service the traps. An open-bottom trap made of green opaque plastic with a sticky insert captured more C. capitata than the closed-bottom painted trap with a toxicant panel. When used in conjunction with sterile insect release technology, the open-bottom dry trap baited with food-based synthetic attractant often caught wild C. capitata in numbers equal to those caught by trimedlure-baited Jackson traps, but the dry trap caught many fewer sterile C. capitata.