Influence of number of holes in bottle traps containing methyl eugenol on capturing of fruit flies, Bactrocera spp. in peach, pear, guava and kinnow mandarin orchards in Punjab, India

Fruit flies, Bactrocera dorsalis (Hendel) and Bactrocera zonata (Saunders) are important insect-pests of fruit crops. Worldwide, fruit fly traps are used for monitoring and management of these fruit flies. Various designs of the traps have been standardized in different agro-climatic zones of the world. We studied the influence of number of holes in bottle trap containing methyl eugenol (PAU fruit fly trap) on capturing fruit flies, Bactrocera spp. in peach, pear, guava and Kinnow mandarin orchards at Ludhiana, Punjab during 2015 and 2016. Bottle trap contained 1, 2, 3 and 4 holes per trap made in different directions. Traps with 3 holes were found significantly superior in attracting higher number of fruit flies than those with 1, 2 and 4 holes/traps in all the crops. These results indicated that bottle trap having 3 holes were ideal for capturing fruit flies infesting peach, pear, guava and Kinnow orchards.