Comparative Efficacy of Methyl Eugenol Impregnated Wooden Block Traps and Suspension Traps in Mass Trapping Fruit Flies in Mango Orchard

摘要

Tephritid fruit flies are major pests of many fruits and vegetables throughout the world. In mango, fruit flies are serious problems not only in domestic production but also in export to other countries. It has also been considered as a major quarantine pest in many developed nations. The gravid females of the fruit flies puncture the ripening fruit and lay eggs inside. The maggots, after hatching start feeding on the pulp and render it unfit for human consumption. Use of insecticides as cover spraysto control these pests not only gives inadequate control but also results in toxic residues on the harvested fruit besides causing many environmental hazards. Many other techniques such as, orchard sanitation, food baits are also used to suppress fruitfly populations. Male annihilation technique (MAT) using parapheromone, methyl eugenol along with insecticides has been found effective to suppress the population of fruit flies (Jacobson, 1972; Qureshi et al, 1981 and Stonehouse et al., 2007). Therefore, the present studies were conducted to find out the comparative efficacy of suspension and methyl eugenol impregnated ply board block traps in mass trapping fruit flies in mango orchard.