Durable Semi-Solid Bait Against Bactrocera (Diptera: Tephritidae) Species In Peshawar

Abstract

Efficacy of liquid and semi-solid form of commercial fruit flies attractant (methyl eugenol) for Bactrocera dorsalis and B. zonata in peach orchard, and raspberry essence for Bactrocera tau and B. cucurbitae in vegetables field were investigated at Agronomy Research Farm, The University of Agriculture, Peshawar in 2017.Treatments in both experiments were arranged randomly (factorial randomized complete block design)withthree replications. A significant difference was observed among the liquid and semi-solid phase of both the methyl eugenol and raspberry essence. The maximum number of fruits flies per trap of B. dorsalis (9.08) and B. zonata (11.19) were recorded in semi-solid phase of methyl eugenol, while minimum number of B. dorsalis (5.06) and B. zonata (7.30) in its liquid phase. Similarly, the semi-solid phase of raspberry essence also attracted significantly more mean the number of B. tau (12.9) and B. cucurbitae (8.08). The semi-solid forms of attractants caught comparatively more mean number of fruit flies over a longer period of time than the liquid forms, therefore semi-solid form of attractant is recommended for further use to reduce the fruit flies incidents.