Comparison between current insecticides for bait spray against olive fruit fly, Bactrocera oleae (Dip.: Tephritidae)

The olive fruit fly, Bactrocera oleae Gmelin was listed as a quarantine pest in Iran since its resurgence in many parts of the world. Now it is considered the most important pest on olive in Iran. The nature and rapid distribution of the pest prioritized the emergency control measures in order to slash down the ever-increasing crop loss in infested areas. Therefore a study was conducted to compare the conventional method of liquid chemical spray with the bait spray technique during 2005-07. The study was conducted through a RCBD design including 4 treatments as: 1- Hydrolized protein (%3) mixed with 0.001 concentration of deltamethrin (EC 2.5%), 2- Hydrolized protein (%3) mixed with 0.002 concentration of dimethoate (EC 40%), 3- 0.002 concentration of spinosad (GF-120) and 4- Control (no treatment). Each treatment was replicated 4 times. In the second year of the experiments two more treatments were also added in studies including: Hydrolized protein (%3) mixed with 0.001 concentration of malathion (EC %57) and 20% concentration of Assa fetida extract.The results revealed significant differences among treatments. Based on the comparative analysis and considering the environmental hazards of chemical control, it could be recommended that the application of the hydrolyzed protein (%3) mixed with 0.001 concentration of deltamethrin (EC 2.5%) on about 1-2 m2 foliage canopy areas in South West direction of every other tree would control economically and efficiently the olive fruit fly. However, the spinosad could be a more rational alternative when the pest would occur in low densities (about 3-5 adult flies captured by MacPhail traps for 5 days).