Harmonic radar tracking of individual melon flies, Zeugodacus cucurbitae, in Hawaii: Determining movement parameters in cage and field settings.

Tephritid fruit flies, such as the melon fly, Zeugodacus cucurbitae, are major horticultural pests worldwide and pose invasion risks due primarily to international trade. Determining movement parameters for fruit flies is critical to effective surveillance and control strategies, from setting quarantine boundaries after incursions to development of agent-based models for management. While mark-release-recapture, flight mills, and visual observations have been used to study tephritid movement, none of these techniques give a full picture of fruit fly movement in nature.

Flight Burst Duration as an Indicator of Flight Ability and Physical Fitness in Two Species of Tephritid Fruit Flies.

We introduce a method to quantify flight ability and physical fitness of individual fruit flies which we term 'Flight Burst Duration' (FBD). This consisted of tethering individual insects by the dorsal thorax using a vacuum and measuring the length of time the insect beats its wings while suspended off a surface. Consecutive measurements with Bactrocera dorsalis Hendel (Dipera: Tephritidae) and Zeugodacus cucurbitae Coquillett (Diptera: Tephritidae) in the same day and across days indicated that a single measurement was sufficient, and that FBD was consistent and repeatable.

Raspberry Ketone Trifluoroacetate Trapping of Zeugodacus cucurbitae (Diptera: Tephritidae)in Hawaii.

Melon fly, Zeugodacus cucurbitae (Coquillett), is a serious pest of tropical horticulture, causing damage to cucurbits, other fruiting vegetables, and certain tree fruits. The deployment of male lures comprises an important component of several detection and control strategies for this pest, with the main male attractant currently in use being cuelure (CL). A novel fluorinated analog of CL, raspberry ketone trifluoroacetate (RKTA), has been developed for the control of Bactrocera tryoni, a related pest; here, we test this compound for attraction to Z.

Cucumber Lure Trapping of Zeugodacus cucurbitae (Diptera: Tephritidae) in Hawaii and Taiwan: Longevity and Nontargets Captures.

The melon fly, Zeugodacus cucurbitae (Coquillett), is a serious pest of tropical horticulture, causing damage to cucurbits, tree fruits, and fruiting vegetables. Melon flies are especially attractive to freshly sliced cucumber, and this has led to the identification of a nine-compound kairomone lure that can be used to trap both female and male flies. In this study, a seven-compound lure, containing (Z)-6-nonenal, (Z)-6-nonen-1-ol, 1-octen-3-ol, (E,Z)-2,6-nonadienal, (E)-2-nonenal, hexanal, and 1-hexanol, was formulated into PVC plugs (100 or 300 mg/plug) for field testing in wet traps.

Disruption of Darna pallivitta (Lepidoptera: Limacodidae) by Conventional and Mobile Pheromone Deployment.

Identification of the Darna pallivitta (Moore) pheromone component n-butyl (E)-7,9-decadienoate (E7,9-10:COOn-Bu) has made it possible to investigate communication disruption to control this lepidopteran pest. Conventional communication disruption trials showed marked decreases in the mean number of male moths captured in E7,9-10:COOnBu-treated fields compared with control fields. For traps baited with E7,9-10:COOnBu, percent disruptions were 94.