Traps, male lures, and a warning system for Queensland fruit fly, Dacus tryoni (Frogg.) (Diptera, Trypetidae)

Abstract

The attractiveness of eight prospective lures for male Queensland fruit fly was tested in a simple olfactometer. Six of these compounds were found to be attractive and these were ranked in field trials in which traps were baited with a mixture of each lure and malathion.

Trap catches varied with lure, trapping site, weather (including wind speed), and season. Cue lure, 4-(p-acetoxyphenyl)butan-2-one, was the most attractive compound. Baits made by mixing cue lure and malathion were of unchanged attractiveness after more than 6 months but mixtures of cue lure and DDVP declined in attractiveness within 6–12 days.

Funnel traps baited with cue lure and malathion and spaced 0.4 km apart in a square grid pattern caught 4.1% of newly emergent flies and 9% of mature flies (2–3 weeks old) released in the centre of the grid. The use of such a grid in early warning systems is discussed.