Human urine and chicken feces as fruit fly (Diptera: Tephritidae) attractants for resource-poor fruit growers.
Piñero J., Aluja M., Vázquez A., Equihua M., Varón J.
Author Affiliation: Instituto de Ecología, A. C. Apartado Postal 63, 91000 Xalapa, Veracruz, Mexico.
Journal of Economic Entomology 96 : 334-340
Abstract : We evaluated human urine and chicken faeces, two naturally occurring, inexpensive, and readily available substances, as baits for the capture of Anastrepha spp. using glass McPhail traps. Two studies were performed simultaneously in a commercial mango orchard in Veracruz, México. In the first study, we compared a 50% water dilution of human urine against hydrolysed protein, both compounds at the fresh and 5-day-old stages, and water alone (control treatment). In the second study, we tested fresh chicken faeces mixed with water, a torula yeast/borax solution at three different ages (1-4, 5-9, and 10-15 days), and water (control treatment). Both human urine and chicken faeces were attractive to Anastrepha adults compared with water alone. Human urine and chicken faeces attracted two and three times fewer adults than hydrolysed protein and torula yeast/borax, respectively. However, unlike torula yeast/borax, aging of human urine did not decrease its attractiveness. Five-day-old human urine attracted numerically more A. serpentina females than males, similar numbers of A. obliqua males and females, and significantly more sexually immature A. obliqua females than mature ones. Chicken faeces proved to be as attractive as the aged torula yeast/borax treatments for A. obliqua and A. serpentina. We argue that because both human urine and chicken faeces are cost-free and can be easily obtained, they are viable, low-technology alternatives to costly commercial attractants, particularly for low-income growers or backyard farmers in Mexico and other Latin American countries.