Apple Maggot Fly (Diptera: Tephritidae) Response to Perforated Red Spheres

Abstract

Two traps, designed to kill with pesticide instead of a sticky coating, were evaluated for their potential to control apple maggot flies, Rhagoletis pomonella (Walsh). Both traps were designed to protect feeding stimulant and pesticide from rainfall, a problem with previous trap designs. The first trap was a perforated hollow red sphere, the interior of which contained odor attractants, feeding stimulant and pesticide. In field tests, internally baited spheres were slightly less attractive to R. pomonella than externally baited spheres, and alighting flies were highly reluctant to enter openings into the sphere interior. The second trap was a sphere in which odor attractants, feeding stimulant and pesticide were contained in a liquid inside the trap and released through a sponge at the surface. Few of the flies alighting on these traps were induced to feed. The post-alighting behavior of R. pomonella on both trap types tested suggests that neither type (as tested) holds much promise to replace existing designs.