Florida Entomologist (2004) 87, 41-50
Martín Aluja and Jaime Piñero (2004)
Testing human urine as a low-tech bait for Anastrepha spp. (Diptera: Tephritidae) in small guava, mango, sapodilla and grapefruit orchards
Florida Entomologist 87 (1), 41-50
Abstract: We evaluated the attractiveness of three aqueous dilutions of human urine (HU 50, 25, and 12.5%) to adults of pestiferous and nonpestiferous Anastrepha species (Diptera: Tephritidae) in small guava, grapefruit, mango, and sapodilla orchards with glass McPhail traps. As control treatments we used a commercially available hydrolyzed protein bait (Captor Plus®) and tap water. In the guava orchard, the three urine dilutions were as effective as hydrolyzed protein in attracting A. fraterculus. Also, when 25 and 50% urine were used, 93 and 96%, respectively, of the adults captured were females. In the grapefruit orchard, protein-baited traps captured significantly more A. ludens than urine-baited traps. In the mango orchard, both A. obliqua and A. serpentina were more attracted to hydrolyzed protein than to any other bait treatment. In the sapodilla orchard, traps baited with 50% urine surpassed all other treatments in the capture of A. serpentina and A. obliqua. Our findings indicate that human urine performs as well or better than hydrolyzed protein in certain types of orchards. They also support the notion that there is no "universal" Anastrepha bait. We conclude that human urine is a viable, low-tech alternative Anastrepha bait for subsistence or low income, small-scale fruit growers in rural Latin America.
Evaluamos el potencial atractivo de 3 diluciones acuosas de orina humana (OH 50, 25 y 12.5%) para adultos de especies plaga y no plaga de Anastrepha (Diptera: Tephritidae) en pequeños huertos de guayaba, toronja, mango y chico zapote utilizando trampas McPhail de vidrio. Los tratamientos control consistieron de proteína hidrolizada (Captor Plus®) y agua. En la huerta de guayaba, las tres diluciones de orina fueron igual de efectivas que la proteína hidrolizada en capturar A. fraterculus. A diluciones de 25 y 50% de orina, el 93 y 96%, respectivamente, de las capturas fueron hembras. En la huerta de toronja, las trampas cebadas con proteína capturaron significativamente más adultos que aquellas cebadas con orina. Un resultado similar se obtuvo en la huerta de mango donde se capturaron adultos de A. obliqua y A. serpentina. En la huerta de chico zapote, las trampas cebadas con orina al 50% superaron a todos los demás tratamientos capturando significativamente más adultos de A. serpentina. Nuestros resultados indican que la orina tiene un potencial atractivo similar o en algunos casos mayor que la proteína hidrolizada en ciertos tipos de huertos. También apoyan la noción de que no existe un cebo "universal" para Anastrepha. Concluimos que la orina humana representa una alternativa viable de baja tecnología para pequeños productores de bajo ingreso o subsistencia en áreas rurales de América Latina.
(The abstract is excluded from the Creative Commons licence and has been copied with permission by the publisher.)
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Database assignments for author(s): Jaime C. Pinero, Martín Aluja
Research topic(s) for pests/diseases/weeds:
pheromones/attractants/traps
