Sources of Protein as Food Baits for Anastrepha obliqua (Diptera: Tephritidae): Tests in a Wind Tunnel and the Field

Abstract

The West Indian fruit fly, Anastrepha obliqua Macquart (Diptera: Tephritidae), is an economically important fruit pest in the Americas. Food attractants are used as bait in traps for monitoring the population of flies in orchards, but their effectiveness differs with location, fruit fly variety, and the type of trap deployed. In this work, we tested the effectiveness of a hydrolyzed protein, BioAnastrepha®, and a yeast extract, Bionis YE MF®, under field conditions and in a laboratory bioassay and identified the main volatile compounds emitted from such mixtures. Hydrolyzed protein and yeast extract were attractive in a wind tunnel, but in the field, hydrolyzed protein was not attractive and only pure yeast extract and yeast extract with sugar were attractive for A. obliqua. Sugar alone was not attractive to the flies in either experiment. Yeast extract itself is a good attractant for A. obliqua. The addition of sugar, however, will stimulate feeding, which could be useful in insecticide-bait sprays.