Effect of trap installation height on capturing of mango fruit flies under Saurashtra region of Gujarat

Abstract

The tephritid flies are among the major pests of fleshy fruits which affect production throughout the world and represent the most economically important group of polyphagous Diptera. Use of male pheromone traps are the best control way to management of mango fruit fly. Further, the effectiveness of the pheromone traps dependence of the various factors in field condition. Among the various factors, the height of trap is key factor for capture of mango fruit fly and the trap efficacy. In this context, our scrutiny on evaluation of different trap installation height for mango fruit fly was conducted. Study results revealed that significantly the highest numbers of fruit flies were recorded in traps installed at the height of 2 meters and 3 meters from ground level (209.99 and 187.43 fruit flies / trap / month, respectively), which were at par each other. Further, the lowest (147.72 fruit flies / trap / month) number of fruit flies were trapped in traps installed at the height of 1 meter from ground level.