Comparison of home-made and commercial baits for trapping Drosophila suzukii (Diptera: Drosophilidae) in blueberry crops

Abstract

Drosophila suzukii (Matsumura) (Diptera: Drosophilidae) is a worldwide invasive pest. In Mexico, this species attacks various soft berries, plum, and guava. Currently, D. suzukii is monitored using traps baited with various attractants. Nevertheless, previous reports have shown that the performance of attractants may vary from one place to another. Ideally, the attractant used by growers should be as effective, long-lasting, easy to maintain and deploy, and inexpensive as possible. In this study, we compared the performance of home-made and commercial lures in capturing D. suzukii in blueberry crops in Guanajuato and Michoacán, Mexico. We also evaluated whether the capture of D. suzukii using odor-baited traps was enhanced by the incorporation of visual cues. Overall, traps baited with Z-Kinol®, fermented berries (blueberry, raspberry, and blackberry) alone or blended performed better in capturing D. suzukii flies than fermented banana, apple cider vinegar (ACV), and FLYBUSTER® Powder. The capture of flies increased by 29, 31, and 38 % when a yellow card was included in traps baited with Z-Kinol®, fermented blueberry juice, and fermented raspberry juice, respectively. The volatile compounds of fermented berry juices, identified by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry, consisted mainly of esters, particularly ethyl acetate and isopentyl acetate. In brief, our results suggest that traps baited with fermented berries can be used for monitoring and mass trapping of D. suzukii populations in blueberry crops in Mexico.