Multiple baits, exposure time and trap design influenced trapping efficiency of fruit fly Drosophila melanogaster

Abstract

Drosophila melanogaster (Diptera: Drosophilidae) commonly known as fruit fly, is a minor pest in agro-ecosystems, but not for fruit vendors trading on soft-skinned fruits. Amidst a plethora of fruit hosts obtainable in open markets, using baits to trap out these insects could be more effective, hence different baits performance in baited traps were tested. Also tested for catchability were two types of improvised traps viz.: with and without bait-holding chambers. With five fruits (banana, citrus, onions, pineapple and tomato), two beverages (beer and red wine) and water (control) as baits in a multiple-trap arena, a multiple-trap (for baits), and a two-trap (for design) trials were conducted. Among the multiple-trap trials, tomato-baited traps attracted significantly more D. melanogaster than the other baits as it accounts for four times more catch than the banana and orange-baited traps; and three times more than the pineapple baited traps. In 24 and 48 hours, all the baited traps had respectively mopped up 72 and 98.9 % of the 1591 flies released into the test arena. In the binary-trap trials, the trap without bait-holder was significantly more efficient than the trap that had bait holders. The poor effectiveness of the traps with bait-holding chambers and low attractiveness of some fruits as baits suggest that simple trap designs can be cost effective in trapping problematic fruit flies and that amidst plausible crosstalk of smell molecules within common arenas where economic fruits abound, some baits would perform less than others.