Relative Catches of Fruit Flies Among Three Dispenser Options for Methyl-eugenal Based Trapping in Guava Crop Ecosystem in Srilanka

Abstract

Insect para-pheromones eliciting aggregation response in males of the Tephritid fruit flies are being deployed for trap- based monitoring and mass trapping in many tropical and temperate horticultural crops globally .The relative catches of B. dorsalis species complex were compared for three alternative ME dispensers in guava crop in two fields at FRDI, Kananvila, Srilanka during Sep- Oct.2019. The overall catches were significantly higher for large disc (4x4x1cm) dispenser, being nearly five-fold greater than small disc (4x1x1cm) dispenser, while the liquid (Vial-wick) dispenser was second in rank consistently. It has shown the scope for maximising the ME trap catches with large disc dispenser choice in guava crop ecosystem in Sri lanka. The potential for such improved dispenser in cost-effective enhancement of the impact of ME-based mass trapping as an eco-safe alternative to synthetic insecticide use in guava crop ecosystem is indicated. Future R&D towards more holistic enhancement of the trapping system components including trap design-lure dispenser combination choice is suggested.