Journal of Economic Entomology (2018) 111, 2032-2037

Landry Sarles, Bérénice Fassotte, Antoine Boullis, Georges Lognay, Agnès Verhaeghe, István Markó and François J. Verheggen (2018)
Improving the monitoring of the walnut husk fly (Diptera: Tephritidae) using male-produced lactones
Journal of Economic Entomology 111 (5), 2032-2037
Abstract: It is important to monitor fruit flies (Diptera: Tephritidae) efficiently to implement sustainable means of control. Attractants are often used to increase the efficiency of sticky traps deployed in orchards to monitor Lepidopterans, but remains to be developed to monitor fruit flies. Rhagoletis completa Cresson (Diptera: Tephritidae) is an invasive species in the walnut orchards of Europe, and is commonly monitored with yellow sticky traps. In this study, we collected the volatile compounds released by male and female R. completa, and identified two lactones released exclusively by males. We then formulated both lactones in long-lasting volatile dispensers, and we quantified their release rate over a 26-d period. Finally, during the entire period when female flies are present in the field, we compared the efficiency of the conventional monitoring method using unbaited yellow sticky traps with yellow sticky traps associated with a dispenser releasing both male-produced lactones. These assays were conducted in 54 walnut orchards in France, in 2017. The number of fruit flies caught with sticky traps associated with lactones dispensers was increased by up to 10 times each week. Lactone-baited traps also allowed earlier detection in the season. These field results are promising for R. completa monitoring. A complete chiral identification of these lactones should be performed along with a clarification of their role in the sexual communication of R. completa.
(The abstract is excluded from the Creative Commons licence and has been copied with permission by the publisher.)
Link to article at publishers website
Database assignments for author(s): François J. Verheggen

Research topic(s) for pests/diseases/weeds:
surveys/sampling/distribution
pheromones/attractants/traps

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Pest and/or beneficial records:

Beneficial	Pest/Disease/Weed	Crop/Product	Country	Quarant.
	Rhagoletis completa