Fruit flies remain one of the major threats of fruit growing in the world however more technologies have been brought up carb the problem.
Fruit flies cause a lot of damage in fruits as they inject eggs under the skin which hatch into white worms to cause rotting. Baits used to control fruit flies: All fruit flies are attracted to food baits rich in protein and sugar as they need them to mature and grow their eggs. As fruit flies detect food up to 10 metres, some food baits are mixed with odour to attract more flies from a distance. Use commercial baits with a premix of insecticide.
Pheromene traps
Food baits are used as spot spray. However use pheromone traps to check for flies presence. Flies appear when mangoes are 3m wide. Once detected, mix water and bait at a ratio of 3:1 litres. Calibrate the sprayer and spray a spot of foliage 1 by 1 metre on each tree on both sides of the leaves. Baits are active after 10 days of application. During application, don‘t apply on windy days, spray again after rain and spray in morning as the flies are more active during this period.
Bait protection
Cut the jerrican into half and apply sticky food bait into it. Hung it facing down to avoid contamination of the food bait by rain. Immerse a foam material in the food bait, put it in the lid and hung it on a tree facing down to encourage water runoff. Combine food baits with other control methods like destroying infected fallen fruits and encouraging natural enemies such as weaver ants to control fruit flies. Food baits dont kill crop pollinators.
