Testing human urine as a low-tech bait for Anastrepha spp. (Diptera: Tephritidae) in small guava, mango, sapodilla and grapefruit orchards.
Aluja M., Piñero J.
Author Affiliation: Instituto de Ecología, A. C., Apartado Postal 63, 91000 Xalapa, Veracruz, Mexico.
Florida Entomologist 87 : 41-50
Abstract : We evaluated the attractiveness of 3 aqueous dilutions of human urine (HU, 50, 25 and 12.5%) to adults of pestiferous and nonpestiferous Anastrepha species in small guava, grapefruit, mango and sapodilla orchards with glass McPhail traps from September 1995 to July 1997 in Cosautlán, Apazapan and Tuzamapan (central Veracruz, Mexico). We used a commercially available hydrolysed protein bait (Captor Plus) and tap water as control treatments. In the guava orchard, the urine dilutions were as effective as hydrolysed protein in attracting A. fraterculus. 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 hydrolysed 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 hydrolysed 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.