Trapping of Ceratitis capitata Using the Low-Cost and Non-Toxic Attractant Biodelear

Abstract

Trapping is considered a powerful tool in the monitoring and control of fruit flies of high economic importance such as the Mediterranean fruit fly, Ceratitis capitata (Diptera: Tephritidae). However, the cost of trapping and, in some cases, the safety of the chemicals used as baits are concerning for growers and the environment. Here we present a novel, low cost, environmentally friendly, female-specific bait for C. capitata, called Biodelear, that consists of a mixture of attracting compounds such us pyrazines, pyranones and amorphous nitrogen-based polymers. The new bait was compared to the commercially available attractant Biolure® (Suterra LLC, Bend, OR, USA) in Greece. McPhail-type traps were deployed in an orange orchard located in Athens. Five traps per treatment were used for several weeks during 2009 and four traps per treatment in 2010. Traps contained either 17 g of Biodelear or one Biolure Unipack dispenser. The results showed that both baits were highly efficient in attracting C. capitata females, and to a lesser extent, males. Although Biolure initially appeared to outperform Biodelear, later in the season the two attractants converged in efficacy. In both years, female captures were similar in traps baited with Biolure and Biodelear. However, male captures were higher in Biodelear-baited traps in 2010. In addition, Biodelear seemed to be longer lasting than Biolure, despite not being formulated into a slow-release dispersion system. The low cost of Biodelear and its strong, long-lasting effects render it suitable for mass trapping of the Mediterranean fruit fly.

Evaluation of Mass Trapping Devices for Early Seasonal Management of Ceratitis Capitata (Diptera: Tephritidae) Populations

“…Under such conditions, the female selectivity in the "ready-to-use" Decis ® trap was substantially higher compared to that of Tephri and IPMT traps, but the low numbers of total captures are a matter of concern. Along with the extensively reported superior performance of BioLure for suppressing medfly populations at high temperatures [17,24,31,39,49], our results indicate also the promising choice of Biodelear in Tephri trap, instead the IPMT trap as previously selected for pilot trials [21].…”

“…Recent field experiments revealed very encouraging results on medfly mass trapping with the novel attractant Biodelear (http://www.biodelear.gr, date: 5 May 2021). Biodelear is a patented, female specific lure produced by the Maillard reaction of fructose, urea and water at a ratio of 3:1:1 w/w/w [20,21]. Contrary to the BioLure that contains harmful components, such as putrescine, associated with potential toxicity to mammals [22,23], Biodelear is a non-toxic product and, therefore, more friendly to users and the environment.…”

Ceratitis capitata (Wiedemann, 1824) (Diptera: Tephritidae)’nın hidrolize maya ve farklı şeker türlerine davranışsal tepkileri

“…With attractants for C. capitata now including both protein and sugar, different formulations of protein hydrolysates are commercially available for C. capitata control. Biodelear, a patented, female-specific attractant, produced by the Maillard reaction of fructose, urea and water at a ratio of 3:1:1 (Kouloussis et al, 2022). In the present study, fructose attracted significantly more females than alpha glucose and the control in a four-arm olfactometer.…”

“…Feeding on more than 300 different hosts and having a cosmopolitan geographic distribution that is ever-expanding, it exerts a direct economic loss to growers such as dramatically affects national and international vegetable-fruit commerce (Liquido et al, 1990(Liquido et al, , 1991. If C. capitata populations are not managed, the percentage of damage often exceeds 50% of the total fruit production, and the infestation may reach 80-100% in highly susceptible hosts such as persimmon (Tiring & Satar, 2017, 2021Kouloussis et al, 2022). Growers are very concerned about the high reproductive potential and adaptability of C. capitata, combined with the low effectivity of natural enemies and their wide range of hosts (Castillo et al, 2000).…”

Advancements in management of major fruit flies (Diptera: Tephritidae) in North Africa and future challenges: A review

“…However, despite these efforts, the fruit flies control situation progresses very slowly in North Africa and is significantly delayed compared to other parts of the world. In the Mediterranean and other regions, fruit flies management is based on environmentally friendly methods relying upon regular population monitoring to respond to action thresholds (Kouloussis et al., 2017; Mc Quate et al., 2005; Navarro‐Llopis et al., 2008; Navarro‐Llopis et al., 2008). Currently, one of the most critical components to control fruit flies is to monitor population densities regularly to have a long‐term understanding of population fluctuation.…”