Managing the Pepper Maggot (Diptera: Tephritidae) Using Perimeter Trap Cropping

Abstract

A perimeter trap crop barrier of hot cherry peppers, border-row insecticide applications, and a combination of the two management strategies were evaluated to see if they could protect a centrally located main crop of bell peppers from oviposition and infestation by the pepper maggot, Zonosemata electa (Say). In large plots, the main cash crop of bell peppers was protected from the majority of the oviposition and infestation by all three barriers. The combination sprayed/trap crop barrier provided the best protection against both oviposition and infestation and resulted in over 98% pest-free fruit at harvest. Maggots infested only 1.7% of the main crop fruit when protected by a sprayed or unsprayed trap crop barrier, compared with 15.4% in control plots. The perimeter sprayed/trap crop strategy was employed in three commercial fields in 2000 and 2001. The combination barrier resulted in superior insect control and reduced insecticide use at all commercial locations, compared with the same farms' past history or to farms using conventional and integrated pest management (IPM) methods. Economic analysis showed that the technique is more cost effective and profitable than relying on whole-field insecticide applications to control the pepper maggot. Farmer users were surveyed and found the perimeter trap crop technique simple to use, with many hard-to-measure benefits associated with worker protection issues, marketing, personnel/management relations, pest control and the environment. Use of the perimeter trap crop technique as part of an IPM or organic program can help improve crop quality and overall farm profitability, while reducing pesticide use and the possibility of secondary pest outbreaks.

An egg‐laying device to estimate the induction of sterility in Ceratitis capitata (Diptera: Tephritidae) sterile insect technique programmes

“…As previously found for adult captures of several species of pestiferous fruit flies (Boucher, Ashley, Durgy, Sciabarrasi, & Calderwood, 2003;Cohen & Yuval, 2000;Prokopy, Mittenthal, & Wright, 2003), egg-laying devices placed on perimeter trees in our study recovered greater numbers of eggs than those placed in the interior. Tephritid flies are highly mobile, most pest species require a period of sexual maturation spent in search of food and mating partners before females become responsive to fruit, and host fruit in commercial orchards becomes ripe and massively releases attractive odours in synchrony (Aluja & Rull, 2009).…”

Designing an effective trap cropping strategy: the effects of attraction, retention and plant spatial distribution

“…We also did not allow for insects migrating into a field with a border trap crop (e.g. Boucher et al. 2003) because the goal of a border crop is to prevent insects from entering the cash crop, making retention even more important in this scenario.…”

Application of vetiver grass Vetiveria zizanioides: Poaceae (L.) as a trap plant for rice stem borer Chilo suppressalis: Crambidae (Walker) in the paddy fields

“…in cotton, thereby reducing reliance on insecticides. This control method can be simple and easy to operate, does not pollute the environment and can be a powerful tool for management of important pests (Hokkanen 1991;Boucher et al 2003;Liang et al 2015). In recent years, the widespread use of chemical pesticides have caused severe damages to the agricultural ecosystems, reduced natural enemy diversity and abundance, induced insecticide resistance in pests, environmental pollution and increased pesticides residues in agricultural products (Morales 2001;Mathewsa et al 2003;Mu et al 2003;Kumar and Kumar 2004;Zheng et al 2008).…”