ABSTRACT
Insect trapping is essential for population studies or for use in insect pest control programs. Estimation of population size, detection of newly introduced species and evaluation of population reproductive ability are necessary components for any control system. Attractants and traps have received much attention for fruit flies as components of fly management in small, or area-wide programs. A variety of food attractants, such as different protein hydrolysates and ammonium salts, have been used for trapping of both sexes of fruit flies. Parapheromones are a great mystery of fruit fly biology. They are very powerful male attractants eliciting pheromone-type response. The attractants discussed here are sometimes combined with killing agents in adult traps, which are the tools for fruit fly monitoring, detection, and sometimes control. The variety of attractants and traps often used for the same fly, necessitates the standardization and comparative evaluation of trapping systems under different climates and host situations.
