Response of melon fly (Diptera: Tephritidae) to weathered SPLAT-Spinosad-Cue-Lure.
Studies were conducted in Hawaii to measure attraction of male melon fly, Bactrocera cucurbitae (Coquillett) (Diptera: Tephritidae), to SPLAT-Cue-Lure (C-L) and SPLAT-Melo-Lure (M-L) (raspberry ketone formate). Direct field comparisons of SPLAT-C-L and SPLAT-M-L at low (5%) and high (20%) concentrations indicated few differences in attraction over a 15-wk period. Subsequently, only SPLAT-Spinosad-C-L (5%) was compared with Min-U-Gel C-L with naled (standard used in California) in weathering studies. Treatments were weathered for 1, 2, 4, and 8 wk in Riverside, CA, and shipped to Hawaii for attraction/toxicity tests under field and semifield conditions by using released males of controlled ages, and for feeding tests in the laboratory. In terms of attraction, SPLAT-Spinosad-C-L compared favorably to, or outperformed the current standard of Min-U-Gel-C-L with naled. In terms of toxicity, the cumulative 24-h mortality did not differ between the two insecticide-containing C-L treatments in field cage studies after 8 wk. However, in feeding studies in which individual males were exposed for 5 min to the different C-L treatments after 4 wk of weathering, SPLAT-Spinosad-C-L demonstrated reduced mortality compared with the Min-U-Gel-C-L with naled, suggesting reduced persistence of the spinosad material. Spinosad has low contact toxicity and when mixed with SPLAT and C-L offers a reduced risk alternative for control of B. cucurbitae and related C-L-responding species, without many of the negative effects to humans and nontargets of broad-spectrum contact poisons such as naled.
U.S. Pacific Basin Agricultural Research Center, USDA-ARS, P.O. Box 4459, Hilo, HI 96720, USA. roger.vargas@ars.usda.gov
Roger I
RI
Vargas
Jaime C
JC
Piñero
Eric B
EB
Jang
Ronald F L
RF
Mau
John D
JD
Stark
Luis
L
Gomez
Lyndsie
L
Stoltman
Agenor
A
Mafra-Neto
D000818:Animals; D002074:Butanones / Q000633:toxicity*; D002140:California; D005782:Gels; D008297:Male; D010571:Pest Control / Q000295:instrumentation / Q000379:methods*; D012724:Sex Attractants / Q000633:toxicity; D033621:Tephritidae / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology*; D014887:Weather
D002074:Butanones; D005782:Gels; D012724:Sex Attractants; C481839:4-(p-acetoxyphenyl)-2-butanone