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ARS Home » Pacific West Area » Wapato, Washington » Temperate Tree Fruit and Vegetable Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #302946

Title: Commercial yellow sticky strips more attractive than yellow boards to western cherry fruit fly (Dipt., Tephritidae)

Author
item Yee, Wee

Submitted to: Journal of Applied Entomology
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 7/11/2014
Publication Date: 5/1/2015
Citation: Yee, W.L. 2015. Commercial yellow sticky strips more attractive than yellow boards to western cherry fruit fly (Dipt., Tephritidae). Journal of Applied Entomology. 139(4):289-301.

Interpretive Summary: The western cherry fruit fly damages cherry fruit and is a major cherry pest in the western U.S. Efficient detection methods for adult flies are needed to tell if an area is free of or has low numbers of flies. Personnel at the USDA-ARS Yakima Agricultural Research Laboratory in Wapato, WA compared the numbers of flies captured on sticky yellow translucent plastic and non-translucent board rectangles. Yellow plastic rectangles consistently caught more flies than yellow board rectangles. Also, fewer non-target insects were caught on the plastic than board traps. Results suggest that yellow translucent plastic rectangles should be used instead of yellow board rectangles for detecting cherry fruit flies.

Technical Abstract: Bright yellow sticky rectangles made of paper boards were previously identified as the most effective traps for capturing western cherry fruit fly, Rhagoletis indifferens Curran (Diptera: Tephritidae). Thin rectangular sheets of yellow plastic allow higher light passage than yellow boards and may be even more visible and attractive traps. In tests conducted in sweet cherry trees [Prunus avium (L.) L.] in Washington state (U.S.A.) using ammonium carbonate as the chemical lure, commercial plastic “Yellow Sticky Strips” (large and medium sizes) made of translucent high impact polystyrene captured ~two or three times more flies than commercial sticky yellow Folded Pherocon ® AM and Alpha Scents Boards. Trap size and adhesive type (pressure sensitive vs. polybutene) were not factors for the difference, but translucency may have been. Qualitatively, Yellow Sticky Strips were brighter (at least to humans) than yellow boards when viewed from the shade-facing side beneath trees. Within Yellow Sticky Strips but not within non-translucent boards, more flies were caught on the shade- than sun-facing sides. In addition, numbers of flies on the sun-facing side of the Yellow Sticky Strips and Alpha Scents Board did not differ as much as on the shade-facing side. Yellow Sticky Strips also minimized captures of non-target insects per surface area compared with Pherocon ®AM and Alpha Scents Boards. The Yellow Sticky Strips were the best traps for capturing R. indifferens possibly because of their combination of yellow color, translucency, and contrast with surroundings. They are also useful because they catch relatively few non-target insects.