Efficacy of Two Food-based Attractants and Methyl eugenol for Mass trapping of African invader fly, Bactrocera invadens (Diptera:Tephritidae) on Bush mango in Ibadan, Southwest Nigeria

Abstract

The African Invader fly, Bactrocera invadens Drew, Tsuruta and White is a quarantine pest of Asian origin infesting various commercial fruit crops in tropical Africa. Mass trapping has proven to be a potent tool in its management. This study evaluated the effectiveness of two food attractants (orange juice, pineapple juice) and methyl eugenol for mass trapping of B. invadens on bush mango (Irvingia garbonensis) in Ibadan, Southwest Nigeria during the 2015 fruiting season. The treatments were orange juice (20 ml/trap), pineapple juice 20ml/ trap), Methyl eugenol (5ml/trap) and control (water) using Lynfield traps. The traps were hung on Irvingia trees at height of between 4-5 m from the ground level (within the tree canopies). Using three sites, the distance between each tree was 20 m and traps were replicated three times in each site. Incidences of B. invadens on Irvingia were observed in all the sites. Methyl eugenol significantly (P<0.05) trapped higher B. invadens than other attractants. The percentage trapped flies after 12 weeks range from 81.06%-82.97% (Methyl eugenol), 9.48%-10.17% ( orange juice), 6.60%8.48% (pineapple juice) and 0.24 -0.39% (control) on the sites. There was no significant difference (P>0.05) between the populations of flies trapped on the food attractants, although orange juice trapped more flies than pineapple juice. However, the two food attractants significantly (P<0.05) trapped higher flies than the control. Orange juice and pineapple juice are promising attractants for trapping B. invadens on Irvingia in Nigeria, hence increased dosage could be considered for mass trapping.