Field Response of Tephritid Fruit Flies (Diptera) to Fruit Juice of Some Botanicals and Implications for Bio-Rationale Pest Management in Sudan

Abstract

Fruit flies belonging to the order Tephritidae are the most notorious pests that attack various fruit and vegetable species, causing severe economic losses. Guava orchards at Elfaki Hashim; North of Khartoum, (Khartoum State) and Elsawagi Elgenobia (Kassala State) in the middle and east of Sudan respectively were selected to assess the response of some Tephritids to water extracts (WE) of mango, guava, apple, cucumber, and ready-made juice of mango (Crystal®; Crystal Industrial Co. Ltd, Araak Group; crystal@araak.com) against Torula yeast (a standard fruit fly attractant) and water (control) baited in locally made traps. The trial was performed as Randomized Complete Block Design (RCBD) replicated 3 times for 5 consecutive weeks at each site. Highly significant differences were recorded between attractants and the interaction between attractants and times (weeks) on trapping different species of fruit flies. Five species of fruit flies; Ceratitis capitata, Bactrocera dorsalis, Zeugodacus cucurbitae, Ceratitis cosyra, and Ceratitis quinaria, were found to respond positively to all tested materials at both sites. The greatest number of C. capitata flies was caught by traps equipped with ready-made Crystal® mango juice at the Elfaki Hashim site. The mean number of B. dorsalis attracted to the WEs of mango and guava at Elsawagi Elgenobia site was statistically identical to that of the same species lured to Torula yeast, 83.7, 70.3, and 111.5 flies /trap/week, respectively. Attractants extracted from botanicals are cost-free and easily prepared by farmers for mass trapping of fruit flies. More studies regarding active ingredients, doses, and the number of traps utilized per area should be considered.