John Stonehouse

Economic losses to tephritid fruit flies (Diptera: Tephritidae) in Pakistan

Abstract Fruit flies are a serious pest in Pakistan, causing losses, at the farm level, of an estimated

Farm field assessments of fruit flies (Diptera: Tephritidae) in Pakistan: distribution, damage and control

200 million annually, with added losses to traders, retailers and exporters. Small farmers suffer in particular, being the main growers of the highly susceptible guava and being unable to afford protection measures. The use of cover insecticide sprays against fruit flies is widespread and increasing.

“Single-killing-point” field assessment of bait and lure control of fruit flies (Diptera:Tephritidae) in Pakistan

Abstract The abundance and distribution of fruit flies (Bactrocera zonata and cucurbitae and Carpomyia vesuviana) in melon, guava, jujube and mango were assessed in farmers’ fields, under different control regimes, in four areas of Pakistan. Larval distribution was not clustered among trees but was highly clustered among fruit. The mean number of larvae per infested fruit was not constant, and was not significantly less variable than the infestation rate. In comparisons of bait application technique (BAT) with farmer controls, in melon, average season-end fruit infestation was 29% in unprotected fields and 5% in those protected by BAT; in guava infestation was 44% in unprotected orchards and 12% in orchards protected by BAT; in jujube, infestation was 16% in unprotected orchards and 4% in those protected by BAT. Fifteen farmer-managed trials found BAT-treated melon fields yielded 37% more than unprotected and farmers reported considerable satisfaction. In mango, soaked-block male annihilation technique (MAT) was compared with farmer practices of no control: average infestation before harvest was 9% in unprotected plots and 0% in those protected. Additional to differences in infestation rate, protected melon fields produced 17% higher yields of all fruit, and protected guava orchards had 20% more fruit on trees, relative to those fallen, suggesting that fly attack stimulated fruit drop, and loss estimates based on percentage infestation of sampled fruit may be underestimates. If these reductions in infestation are extrapolated to loss estimates for Pakistan as a whole, the gross annual saving inferred is 4915 million Pakistan rupees or US

Standing on all three legs: the técnico as a cross-cultural occupational group.

144.6 million.

“Single-killing-point” laboratory assessment of bait control of fruit flies (Diptera: Tephritidae) in Pakistan

Abstract Variations of bait application technique (BAT) and male annihilation technique (MAT) were evaluated in field studies of the effectiveness of individual “killing points” of food bait spots or parapheromone lure traps or blocks, by recovering flies attracted and killed in collectors below the killing points. BAT spots were more effective applied to natural foliage than to cut wood, cloth or plastic. BAT with a home-made meat broth killed 65.7% of the number of flies killed by commercial protein hydrolysate, and application by brushes was as effective as by a sprayer. There may be a health risk from the mixing of insecticide with a meat bait which is prepared in a way similar to a food product. MAT by wooden blocks soaked in lure and insecticide was compared with the plastic lure-baited traps currently used in Pakistan; blocks killed four times more flies than traps, are cheaper and less vulnerable to theft and weather, and require no recharging and replacement. Plywood blocks killed more flies than those of mulberry and poplar wood, though not than acacia. Square and oblong blocks were more effective than round and hexagonal ones. The study showed that “single-killing-point” analysis of fruit fly controls can produce consistent results while being quicker and cheaper than full-field trials.

Use of recorded speech dictation to create computer files of pest infestation data.

169 ISSN 1758-2008 10.2217/NPY.13.14

Losses of plums to theft in North West Frontier Province, Pakistan.

Abstract In the evaluation of insect controls by baits and lures considerable advantages are offered by the assessment of the efficacy of a single “killing point”. Modifications of bait application technique were evaluated in the laboratory in Pakistan using choice chamber cages for pairwise comparisons of individual spot deposits of bait recipes. In attracting and killing Bactrocera cucurbitae , a home-made beef meat broth had 68.7% of the effectiveness per unit volume of commercial protein hydrolysate. The addition of urea and cucumber extract source did not enhance the effectiveness of broth bait. There may be a substantial health risk from the mixing of insecticide with meat broth that is prepared in a way similar to a food product. The methodology developed offers the rapid and reliable assessment of alternative bait mixtures and formulations.

Fruit flies of economic significance in India, with special reference to Bactrocera dorsalis (Hendel).

Abstract The use of tape-recorded speech to record pest infestation data in the field, for subsequent transfer by dictation to computer files, offers advantages over comparable methods. A way in which such data can be coded for assembly into tables and statistics is described.

Village-level area-wide fruit fly suppression in India: Bait application and male annihilation at village level and farm level

Abstract Farmers often suffer pre-harvest losses of produce to human theft. Plum fruit in northwestern Pakistan were stolen by local children and by adults, largely Afghan refugees. Fruit were stolen while unripe for use in pickles and a locally popular sour-plum pudding. An informal interview survey of child thieves found their activities to be purposeful and planned and that theft from trees while maintaining a look-out for the farmer obtained a clustered distribution of losses.