Trapping Females of the Mediterranean Fruit Fly (Diptera: Tephritidae) in Israel: Comparison of Lures and Trap Type

We studied the effectiveness of 4 trap types and 3 female attractant baits for the Mediterranean fruit fly, Ceratitis capitata (Wiedemann). The traps were the International Pheromone McPhail trap, an open-bottom cylindrical trap; Frutect trap; and the Ga'aton trap. The 3 female attractants tested were Naziman, which is a locally produced protein hydrolyzate; a proprietary liquid protein that is used in the Frutect trap; and a 3-component food-based synthetic attractant composed of ammonium acetate, putrescine, and trimethylamine. Our results ranked the trap and attractant performances as follows: IP-McPhail trap baited with the synthetic attractant> Frutect baited with proprietary lure> cylindrical trap baited with the synthetic attractant> IP-McPhail trap baited with Naziman and Ga'aton baited with either the synthetic attractant or with Naziman. In subsequent tests, the substitution of the synthetic attractant for the proprietary protein bait increased the numbers of C. capitata captured in both IP-McPhail trap and Frutect, and improved C. capitataspecificity in IP-McPhail traps. Equal numbers of fruit flies were captured in IP-McPhail traps and Frutect traps baited with the synthetic attractant; however, a higher percentage of the flies captured by the IP-McPhail trap were females. Thus, an IP-McPhail trap baited with the synthetic attractant caught the most female C. capitata among the trap and lure combinations tested.