Attractiveness of Various Combinations of Colors and Shapes to Females and Males of <I>Bactrocera minax</I> (Diptera: Tephritidae) in a Commercial Mandarin Grove in Bhutan

Abstract

Bactrocera minax (Enderlein) (Diptera: Tephritidae) is a major pest of citrus fruit in the region from Nepal through to southwestern China. In tests on wild adult populations of B. minax in a mandarin, Citrus reticulata Blanco, orchard in western Bhutan, both males and females were more attracted to 50-mm-diameter spheres than to 50-mm discs of the same color. Furthermore, they were more attracted to spheres colored with orange or green-yellow mixtures than to similar spheres colored red, yellow, green, blue, black, or white. The UV reflectance from the orange (600-650 nm) and yellow-green mixtures (530 nm) was similar to that proposed byProkopy (1977) as eliciting strong attractant responses in other species of Tephritidae.