Development of a low-cost and effective trapping device for apple maggot fly (Diptera: Tephritidae) monitoring and control in Mexican commercial hawthorn groves

Authors: TADEO, E - Institute De Ecologia - Mexico; MUNIZ, E - Instituto Nacional De Investigaciones Forestales Y Agropecuarias (INIFAP); RULL, J - Experimental Plant For Industrial Microbiological Processes(PROIMI); Yee, Wee; ALUJA, M - Institute De Ecologia - Mexico; LASA, R - Institute De Ecologia - Mexico

Submitted to: Journal of Economic Entomology
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 5/18/2017
Publication Date: 6/14/2017
Citation: Tadeo, E., Muniz, E., Rull, J., Yee, W.L., Aluja, M., Lasa, R. 2017. Development of a low-cost and effective trapping device for apple maggot fly (Diptera: Tephritidae) monitoring and control in Mexican commercial hawthorn groves. Journal of Economic Entomology. 100(4):1658-1667. https://doi.org/10.1093/jee/tox167.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1093/jee/tox167

Interpretive Summary: The apple maggot fly is a threat to the commercial hawthorn industry in Mexico, potentially reducing the quality of the fruit for export or local market. No monitoring tools have been studied for Mexican populations of the fly. Personnel at the Instituto de Ecología, Veracruz, México, Programa Sanidad Forestal y Agrícola, Texcoco, México, PROIMI Biotecnología-CONICET, Tucumán, Argentina, and the USDA Yakima Agricultural Research Laboratory, Wapato, WA, USA evaluated infestation levels of apple maggot in feral and commercial Mexican hawthorn and assessed the efficacy of different trap-lure combinations to monitor the pest. Wild hawthorn was more infested than commercially grown hawthorn. In the laboratory, flies landed more often on the upper and middle than lower-bottom part of polyethylene (PET) bottle traps with color circles. Among red, orange, green and yellow circles attached to a bottle trap, only yellow circles improved fly captures compared with a colorless trap. A PET bottle trap with a red circle over a yellow background captured more flies than a similar trap with yellow circles. These results are important in that they could lead to the development of effective traps to monitor or control apple maggot.

Technical Abstract: Few efforts have been made in Mexico to monitor Rhagoletis pomonella (Walsh) (Diptera: Tephritidae) in commercial hawthorn (Crataegus spp.) crops. Therefore, the main objectives of this study were to evaluate infestation levels of R. pomonella in feral and commercial Mexican hawthorn and to assess the efficacy of different trap-lure combinations to monitor the pest. Wild hawthorn was more infested than commercially grown hawthorn. No differences among four commercial baits (Biolure, ammonium carbonate, CeraTrap and Captor + borax) were detected when used in combination with a yellow sticky gel (SG) adherent trap under field conditions. However, liquid lures elicited a slightly higher, not statistically different, capture. Cage experiments in the laboratory revealed that flies tended to land more often on the upper and middle than lower-bottom part of polyethylene (PET) bottle traps with color circles. Among red, orange, green and yellow circles attached to a bottle trap, only yellow circles improved fly captures compared with a colorless trap. A PET bottle trap with a red circle over a yellow background captured more flies than a similar trap with yellow circles. A SG adherent yellow panel trap baited with ammonium carbonate was superior to the improved PET bottle trap (red over a yellow background) baited with different liquid proteins, but higher a proportion of females and no differences in fly detection were measured in some PET traps baited with protein lures. These trials open the door for future research into development of a conventional non-adherent trap to monitor or control R. pomonella.