Comparative field study of various attractants of the pumpkin fruit fly, Dacus ciliatus (Diptera: Tephritidae) in Kermanshah

Pumpkin fly, Dacus ciliatus, is one of the most important pests of cucurbitaceous plants which the larva by feeding on fruit. make it unusable. Effect of sugar beet molasses, hydrolyzed protein, ammonium acetate solution, apple vinegar, beer yeast (5%), ammonia lure and Dacus pheromone to determine the best attractant by using the Mcphail trap was conducted in a 3ha cucumber field by using a completely randomized design with four replications in 2018. Traps hang on wooden stands (1 m) and checked weekly and captured insects were recorded. Results revealed that Pumpkin flies captured with Sugar beet molasses, hydrolyzed protein, beer yeast, ammonium acetate solution, Dacus pheromone, apple vinegar and ammonia lure were effective in attracting adult insects, respectively. The highest weekly captured of non-target insects such as Diptera, Lepidoptera, Hymenoptera and Coleoptera were observed in Beer yeast. The lowest weekly captured of non-target insects were observed in Dacus pheromone (0.98 ± 0.15), ammonia lure (1.03 ± 0.17) and ammonium acetate (1.17 ± 0.25), but there is no significant differences among these treatments statistically. Adult population fluctuations did not follow the same patterns in different treatments and sampling dates. The highest and lowest populations were observed in October and July with records of 36.3 and 0.5 flies. Both sexes were active in field and the sex ratio was 0.63 female and 0.37 male. In conclusion, sugar beet molasses, hydrolyzed protein and beer yeast are very efficient and economic attractants to entrap pumpkin flies in cucumber fields.