Developing a sprayable attracticide to control tephritid flies in fruit production

Description

The aim of the project was to test a series of attracticides that can be mixed and applied with regular sprayers with no additional specialized or expensive equipment or modifications required.  Lab tests were designed to identify the most toxic attracticide, and orchard trials compared control methods using attracticides or conventional techniques.

Objective(s)

• Compare the attractive and insecticidal effects of various attracticide mixtures that perform well in preliminary tests
• Assess the persistence of the mixtures under different abiotic conditions (sun and rain)
• Compare a control strategy using attracticides with a strategy using insecticides