Appetitive dispersal of sterile fruit flies: aspects of the methodology and analysis of trapping studies.
Baker P. S., Chan A. S. T.
Author Affiliation: Centro de Investigaciones Ecológicos del Sureste, Tapachula, Chiapas, Mexico.
Journal of Applied Entomology 112 : 263-273
Abstract : Sterile Anastrepha ludens and Ceratitis capitata were released in 2 mango orchards in Chiapas, Mexico. The distribution of flies caught in McPhail traps at regular distances from the release point varied widely between experiments and days after release. It is suggested that the routine pooling of different day's results and from various experiments leads to misleading conclusions. A simulation experiment which attempted to explain field distributions in terms of random movement with a variable diffusion constant failed to adequately reproduce field curve shapes. The relevance of field release studies is discussed.