Monitoring fruit flies in mango orchards in South Africa and determining the time of fruit infestation.
Grové T., Beer M. S. de, Joubert P. H.
Author Affiliation: ARC-Institute for Tropical and Subtropical, Crops Private Bag X11208, Nelspruit, 1200, South Africa.
: 589-596
Abstract : The most important mango production areas in South Africa are located in Mpumalanga and Limpopo provinces. Three fruit fly species of economic importance, namely the Mediterranean fruit fly, Ceratitis capitata, the Natal fruit fly, C. rosa, and the Marula fruit fly, C. cosyra, are known to attack mangoes and other subtropical crops in South Africa. Current control strategies are based on population monitoring and preventative control by applying toxic bait and doing regular orchard sanitation. Fruit flies were monitored in mango orchards at Hoedspruit (Limpopo Province) and Nelspruit (Mpumalanga Province) with a variety of traps and lures in order to determine the efficacy of trapping and abundance of species. Fruits were also inspected for the presence of ova and larvae throughout the fruiting period, to determine when fruit fly infestation commenced. Sensus traps with Capilure or Questlure, McPhail-type traps with Biolure and Three component lure and yellow Delta traps with enriched ginger oil and enriched ginger oil blend were used. Delta traps with enriched ginger oil blend attracted the highest number of C. cosyra, while McPhail-type traps with Biolure and Three component lure attracted the highest number of C. rosa. C. rosa and C. cosyra were the abundant species at both localities, while numbers of C. capitata were very low. Fruits were not infested during the early fruiting period, but were markedly more prone to attack closer to harvest. Fruits that ripened on the tree and that were picked for the local market, were more prone to attack than mature but green fruits picked for export.