A New Long-Life Trimedlure Dispenser for Mediterranean Fruit Fly

Abstract

New agricultural techniques are attempting to reduce the application of synthesized pesticides and replace them with new environmentally friendly methods such as mass trapping, mating disruption, or chemosterilization techniques. All these methods are based on the release of a lure for insect attraction or confusion. The success of the chosen method depends on the quality of the attractant emission from the dispenser. Currently, used dispensers with a polymeric matrix and new dispensers with mesoporous inorganic materials were evaluated to obtain more efficient emission kinetics. In this study, the selected pest was the Mediterranean fruit fly, Ceratitis capitata (Wiedemann) and the lure used was trimedlure (TML). The dispensers were validated by means of a field study comparing insect catches with attractant release values. As a result, we have demonstrated that mesoporous dispensers have a clearly longer lifetime than the polymeric plug. Furthermore, the attractant release rate is less dependent on temperature in mesoporous than in polymeric dispensers.

Response of two tephritid species, Bactrocera oleae and Ceratitis capitata, to different emission levels of pheromone and parapheromone

“…In the case of medfly the attractant power did not decrease above a particular emission value. The minimum tested concentration was 2.36 mg/day because it was established as 275 an optimum concentration for C. capitata attraction (Dominguez-Ruiz et al, 2008).…”

“…For both fruit flies, the efficacy of this technique depends on the type of trap and the attractant. Several studies have examined the effect of the design and color of traps on their efficacy for monitoring 80 tephritids (Epsky et al, 1995;Cornelius et al, 1999;Navarro-Llopis et al, 2008), but only a few studies have associated pheromone release rate and insect catches (Landolt and Heath, 1990;Dominguez-Ruiz et al, 2008;Suckling et al, 2008). Many studies have compared catches among several types or loads of dispensers for other insect families (Cork et al, 2000;Franklin and Gregoire, 2001;Kovanci et al, 2006), but only a few determined the optimal release rate of attractants in field trials (de Groot and DeBarr, 1998;Cross et al, 2006;Vacas et al, 2009).…”

“…The orchard was divided into four plots to study the effect of four different emission levels in four blocks, placing four traps in a row inside each block. Therefore, each block contained four traps baited 1.8 g of TML, which were described in Dominguez et al (2008). In that study, the quantification of isomers was included.…”

Uso de semioquímicos en el control de plagas. Estudios básicos y de aplicación

“…These studies only reported optimum pheromone loads, but the values cannot be adopted as a reference, because it has been demonstrated that similar initial loads in different dispenser types may result in different release rates (Leonhard et al, 1990;Domínguez-Ruiz et al, 2008). Instead, the most suitable reference value to optimize the dispenser performance would be the optimum daily release rate, as this is the actual variable responsible for the airborne pheromone acting in insect attraction.…”

“…For both fruit flies, the efficacy of this technique depends on the type of trap and the attractant. There are many experiences about the design and color of traps for tephritids (Epsky et al, 1995;Cornelius et al, 1999;Navarro-Llopis et al, 2008) but there are only a few studies comparing pheromone release rate and insect catches (Landolt & Heath, 1990;Domínguez-Ruiz et al, 2008;Suckling et al, 2008). Many studies have compared catches among several types or loads of dispensers for other insect families (Cork et al, 2000;Franklin & Gregoire, 2001;Kovanci et al, 2006) but only a few determined the optimal release rate of attractants in field trials (de Groot & DeBarr, 1998;Cross et al, 2006;Vacas et al, 2009b).…”