Apple maggot fly response to red sphere traps in relation to fly age and experience
1994
Duan, Jian Jun | Prokopy, Ronald J.
Responses of the apple maggot fly, Rhagoletis pomonella (Walsh), to 8 cm red sticky sphere traps, baited with the synthetic fruit odor butyl hexanoate, were investigated in field-caged apple trees containing green or red Gravenstein apples. Trap capture rate and the probability of oviposition in apples before capture generally increased with female age and number of mature eggs in ovaries. Two days of pre-test exposure of mature females to red hawthorns, green Red Delicious apples or green Gravenstein apples had no significant effect on the likelihood of a fly finding a red sphere. However, before capture on a sphere or departing a tree, hawthorn-exposed females found significantly fewer apples and laid significantly fewer eggs than females exposed to Gravenstein apples. Variation in duration of pre-test exposure (1-4 days) of flies to Gravenstein apples had no detectable influence on female response to apples or to a red sphere in a test tree. The relevance of these findings to effectiveness of sphere traps for R. pomonella control in commercial orchards is discussed.
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