Tephritid fruit flies, chemical attractants

Recent Developments in Chemical Attractants for Tephritid Fruit Flies... 

Teranishi, R., R. G. Buttery, K. E. Matsumoto, D. J. Stern, R. T. Cunningham, and S. Gothilf, Recent developments in chemical attractants for tephritid fruit flies, in Allelochemicals Role in Agriculture and Forestry (G. R. Waller, ed.), ACS Symposium Series 330, 431-438, American Chemical Society, Washington, DC, 1987. 

Hydrolysed protein preparations have been used to attract various insects. The general subject of insect attractant use both in nature and by man is introduced, with particular reference to the Tephritid family of fruit flies. The work of the Biocommuni-cation Chemistry Research Unit on the identification of the active attractant compounds in the hydrolysed corn protein, Nu-Lure Insect Bait (NLIB) is discussed. Different isolates have been obtained by running simultaneous steam distillation-extractions (SDE) under vacuum and atomospherlc pressure and under basic and acidic conditions. Chemical fractionation of these isolates has also been accomplished. Chemical identification by gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (gc/ms) is discussed. 

Our search for attractants is focused on the Tephritid family of fruit flies which Includes species that are of economic importance in Europe, Asia, Australia, and the Americas. It is estimated that the olive fly, Dacus oleae. causes ten percent fruit drop in European olives. Of the Infested fruit remaining on the trees, 25 percent of the flesh is destroyed (48). A conservative estimate of the annual cost of the recent Medfly infestation in California, not including capital outlays, is 59 million for chemical controls, 38 million for quarantine and fumigation, and 260 million in crop losses (49). It is estimated that 70% of the susceptible fruit in Egypt is infested by the Medfly (50) and a 50 million control program has been started there. 

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