Effectiveness of different lures and traps against vinegar flies, synanthropic flies, and wasps

Abstract:
We evaluated different traps with non-toxic liquid attractant compositions and surfactants for drowning trapped flying insects. For Drosophila spp. (vinegar fly) in field the most effective bait was: SmartWay Fruit Fly Trap (surface tension 22 mN/m, 100% drowned flies, ICB Pharma) > 960 Vector ( 34 mN/m, 100%, Whitmire Micro-Gen) > Natural Catch Plus (52 mN/m, 5870%, Bio-Logic, Inc.) > Lockstoff fur Permanent Fruchtfliegen Falle (58 mN/m, 0%, W.Neudorff GmbH). We found that not only bait composition, but color of lure as well as the color of trap entrance are very important factors in attraction of vinegar flies. For trapping both synanthropic flies and social wasps, we used fermented baits where 8 strains of brewers’ yeast, surfactants, proteins, carbohydrates, salts and various additives. The attractive volatiles (26 compounds) was determinated by gas chromatography. As a result, 5 compositions had been chosen for field investigations.