Laboratory studies and field evaluation of response of Bactrocera cucurbitae coq. and Bactrocera dorsalis Hendel to different doses of Cuelure and methyl eugenol

Laboratory and field studies were conducted to evaluate responses of melon flies, Bactrocera cucurbitae and Oriental fruit flies, B. dorsalis to different doses (0.5 g, 1 g, 2 g and 3 g) of para-pheromones Cuelure and Methyl eugenol respectively. Electroantennogram (EAG) response was recorded in mV with male antennae of B. curcurbitae and B. dorsalis whereas field evaluation was carried out under farmers’ field condition with dispensers baited with different doses of cuelure and methyl eugenol and numbers of flies trapped were compared. B. dorsalis has shown an increased response with increase in quantity of methyl eugenol both in lab and field studies. In EAG study, B. curcurbitae response in mV was increased as the cuelure dosage was increased up to 2 g whereas in field, the response was increased up to 1 g and reduced as the dosage further increased to 3g. These studies showed that 1 g of cuelure and 2 g of methyl eugenol impregnated on wooden block dispensers attract and trap high numbers of B. curcurbitae and B. dorsalis flies respectively. Further comparative study was done with different sized wooden block dispensers 38 x 27 x 7 mm (big) and 35 x 14 x 8 mm (small) with 1 g loading of methyl eugenol and found small sized wooden block with 1 g methyl eugenol attracted and trapped more no. of B. dorsalis.