Daily flight activity rhythms of the peach and mediterranean fruit flies using sexual and olfactory attractants

The periodicity of insect activity is affected by endogenous and exogenous factors, and these factor thresholds often limit its activity. The flight activity within 24 h circadian rhythm is often influenced by light, whereas the abundance is affected by temperature. This study aimed to hourly follow the flight activity of the peach (PFF) and Mediterranean (MFF) fruit flies, at guava orchard, using sexual and olfactory attractants. The flight of PFF males usually started before that of females, whereas that of MFF males was in the same time as females. As temperature rose above 30 °C, the flight activity of males affected, but that of females not. Thus, flight activities of males were negatively, and females were positively, correlated with temperature. On the contrary, males were positively, and females were negatively, correlated with relative humidity. The sexual attractant attracted more PFF males than MFF, but the olfactory attractants attracted more PFF females than MFF. The highest male captures were between 7:00 am and 10:00 am, and females between 11:00 am and 5:00 pm, suggesting males fly actively during the morning to locate their mates, whereas females fly actively during the afternoon to locate their food and/or distribute their eggs. This also suggests that PFF and MFF are diurnal species. For management of both species, the spray treatments therefore should be taken during the time interval 7:00 am and 10:00 am for males (to disrupt mating) and 11:00 am and 5:00 pm for females (to disrupt feeding and oviposition).