Host marking pheromone of Rhagoletis cerasi: field deployment of synthetic pheromone as a novel cherry fruit fly management strategy

We tested the efficacy of synthetic host marking pheromone (HMP) of the European cherry fruit fly ( R. cerasi ) as a fruit‐infestation‐reducing‐agent in an experimental cherry orchard. Two different pheromone deployment strategies were compared: covering entire tree canopies with synthetic HMP or treating only one half (top to bottom or lower half) of the tree canopy. Pheromone application caused a tenfold reduction in fruit infestation if the entire tree canopy was covered (0.226 vs 0.021 pupae/fruit in untreated and treated trees, respectively). Results show, nevertheless, that a significant reduction in fruit infestation can be achieved by treating only one half of tree canopies (top to bottom) (0.021 vs 0.048 pupae/fruit when comparing totally vs partially treated trees). We conclude that synthetic cherry fruit fly HMP has potential as a fruit fly management tool, especially in cases where ‘organically’ grown fruit reaches high market values.