Toxicity of baited spinosad formulations to Ceratitis capitata: from the laboratory to the application |
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Authors: | Yoav Gazit Sagi Gavriel Ruti Akiva Doron Timar |
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Affiliation: | The ‘Israel Cohen’ Institute for Biological Control, The Plants Production and Marketing Board, Citrus Division, , Bet‐Dagan, 50250 Israel |
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Abstract: | GF‐120, a fruit fly bait designed to attract and kill adult fruit flies, was tested in the laboratory and outdoors to determine effects of pre‐treatment diet and bait aging on mortality of Mediterranean fruit fly, Ceratitis capitata (Wiedemann) (Diptera: Tephritidae). Two spinosad‐based compounds, GF‐120 and Tracer® Ultra, had generated two distinctive dose–mortality responds, with LC80, LC90, and LC99 values of 2.4, 2.8, and 4.1 p.p.m., and 255, 479, and 1 143 p.p.m., respectively. The residues of GF‐120 drops, after feeding to the flies, generated 14.3% mortality. The droplet size of the baited spray plays an important role. The toxicity of large drops lasted more than that of small droplets. In the field, exposure to the sun further deteriorates the compound, which lost 50% of its toxicity within 6 days. Disappearance of the compound in the field, due to consumption by various insects, also played a role as 50% of the GF‐120 drops disappeared within 7 days. As mortality was directly related to the amount of insecticide eaten, the effect of GF‐120 depended on the feeding status of the flies: well‐fed flies were almost unaffected compared with starved ones. |
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Keywords: | Mediterranean fruit fly medfly GF‐120 bait spray toxicology Diptera Tephritidae |
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