Contribution of commercial traps to the efficiency and selectivity of mass trapping attractants for tephritids.

AbstractMass trapping is a widely employed technique for tephritid control in Uruguay, involving traps baited with food attractants aimed at capturing <italic>Ceratitis capitata</italic> and <italic>Anastrepha fraterculus</italic> adults. Previous studies have found high capture efficiency for sexually immature females, with minimal attractiveness to beneficial arthropods for most of the commercial attractants assessed in McPhail traps. This study aimed to assess tephritid capture effectiveness and selectivity towards beneficial arthropods when using these food lures with commercial traps. Five products were evaluated in 2019, including CeraTrap®, PlusTrap®, TMA ® and ANA lure® (both with insecticide DDVP, dry traps), and PBX yeast® (McPhail trap). The primary finding was that commercial trap design did not significantly enhance attractant performance in terms of efficiency or selectivity for the commercial products evaluated. However, these products demonstrated efficacy in capturing immature <italic>C. capitata</italic> females while showing selectivity towards beneficial entomofauna. Further research is needed to develop effective food attractants for controlling <italic>A. fraterculus</italic> under Uruguayan fruit production conditions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]