Articles
Effect of abiotic parameters on fruit flies behavior (Diptera: Tephritidae) in citrus orchards at Ambohijafy
Article number
1267_2
Pages
7 – 12
Language
English
Abstract
Fruit flies are among potential fruit pests in Madagascar.
Trapping surveillance to determine the spatial and temporal abundance of the population with respect to climatic factors (temperature, relative humidity and rainfall) was conducted in the citrus orchards at Ambohijafy – Antananarivo between May 2013 and November 2013. The traps used as baits are a sexual lure (methyl eugenol and Trimedlure) and food attractant trap (Biolure) all associated with an insecticide.
The results show that the population of Bactrocera invadens (Diptera: Tephritidae), an invasive species recently introduced, stays generally low compared to the native Ceratitis malgassa (Diptera: Tephritidae), during the entire monitoring period.
Interspecific competition between these species and the seasonal availability of host plants within the orchard would be the main cause.
Increasing temperatures correlated with a decrease in humidity are favorable for fruit flies during availability and fruiting period of the host plants, from May until August.
However, when hosts seem scarce, a significant decrease appears in the number of fruit flies captured reaching a minimum during the driest and hottest weeks of the study, during October and November, due to their migration to find more favorable conditions.
This work contributes to the forecasting methods’ improvement of fruits flies attacks of Ambohijafy’s orchards, but monitoring on the long-term is still necessary to have an effective fruit flies management in Madagascar.
Trapping surveillance to determine the spatial and temporal abundance of the population with respect to climatic factors (temperature, relative humidity and rainfall) was conducted in the citrus orchards at Ambohijafy – Antananarivo between May 2013 and November 2013. The traps used as baits are a sexual lure (methyl eugenol and Trimedlure) and food attractant trap (Biolure) all associated with an insecticide.
The results show that the population of Bactrocera invadens (Diptera: Tephritidae), an invasive species recently introduced, stays generally low compared to the native Ceratitis malgassa (Diptera: Tephritidae), during the entire monitoring period.
Interspecific competition between these species and the seasonal availability of host plants within the orchard would be the main cause.
Increasing temperatures correlated with a decrease in humidity are favorable for fruit flies during availability and fruiting period of the host plants, from May until August.
However, when hosts seem scarce, a significant decrease appears in the number of fruit flies captured reaching a minimum during the driest and hottest weeks of the study, during October and November, due to their migration to find more favorable conditions.
This work contributes to the forecasting methods’ improvement of fruits flies attacks of Ambohijafy’s orchards, but monitoring on the long-term is still necessary to have an effective fruit flies management in Madagascar.
Publication
Authors
H.J. Rafalimanana, R.B. Randriatsaramiafara
Keywords
Ceratitis malgassa, Bactrocera invadens, lure, fluctuation, climate, host plants
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