A low cost bisexual food baited trap for Bactrocera cucurbitae (Coquillet) (Tephritidae: Diptera) in gourds

Abstract

A low cost fruit fly trap was designed to attract the fruit flies with food baits. The preliminary field experiments were conducted for selecting the food bait and its concentration. A combination of 30 g of banana pulp + 3 ml of food grade alcohol selected and tested in gourds namely snake gourd (Trichosanthes anguina L.), ridge gourd (Luffa acutangula L.) and bitter gourd (Momordica charantia L.) in Coimbatore and Dharmapuri. The food bait attracted both sexes of B. cucurbitae with female: male ratio 0.78:1 and the cost of trap and food bait costs only 43 rupees per acre.