Attraction and feeding responses of oriental fruit flies (Diptera: Tephritidae) to SPLAT-MAT- methyl eugenol with spinosad weathered in California

Studies were conducted in Hawaii in 2007 and 2008 to quantify attraction and feeding responses resulting in mortality of male oriental fruit fly, Bactrocera dorsalis (Hendel), to SPLAT-MAT-Methyl Eugenol (ME) with spinosad in comparison with Min-U-Gel ME and naled. ME treatments were weathered for 1, 2, 4, and 8 wk in Riverside, California, USA, and shipped to Hawaii for bioassays against male B. dorsalis. In field tests involving bucket traps to attract and capture wild males, and in attraction/toxicity studies conducted in small cages using released males of controlled ages, SPLAT-MAT-ME with spinosad was equal in performance to the standard Min-U-Gel-ME with naled formulation at 0, 1, 2, and 4 wk. In laboratory tests in which individual males were exposed for five min to the ME treatments, mortality induced by SPLAT –MAT-ME with spinosad recorded at 24 h did not differ from that caused by Min-U-Gel- ME with naled at 0, 1, 2, and 4 wk. Because spinosad has low contact toxicity, when mixed with SPLAT offers a reduced risk alternative for control of B. dorsalis, without many of the negative effects to humans and nontargets of broad spectrum contact poisons such as naled.