Effect of Sticky Trap Color and Height on the Capture of Adult Oriental Fruit Fly, Bactrocera dorsalis (Hendel) (Diptera: Tephritidae) on Chili Pepper

Oriental fruit fly, Bactrocera dorsalis, (Hendel) (Diptera: Tephritidae) is a destructive pest to many major crops, including chili pepper (Capsicum frutescens L). The insect can cause yield loss up to 100% in the absence of any control measures. One control tactic commonly used by pepper growers to control the fruit fly is sticky trap to capture the adults. The purpose of the current study was to elucidate the effect of trap color and height on the fly capture. The results showed that yellow trap was consistently the most attractive trap amongst the other trap colors tested with an overall average of 62.6 adults per trap during the study. The second most attractive traps were white and green traps with overall averages of 45.2 and 40 adults per trap, respectively. The attractiveness levels of the red and blue traps were comparable each other with overall averages of 29.4 and 25.4 adults per trap, respectively. The least attractive trap was black trap with an overall average of 17.1 adults per trap, which was significantly lower than the other trap colors. In addition, traps set up at 25 and 50 cm above the ground captured significantly more adults (187.8 and 171.9 per trap, respectively) compared to those set up at 75 and 100 cm above the ground (60.8 and 37.1 per trap, respectively). When the combination of the color and height of the traps were analyzed, the yellow, white and green traps set up at 25 and 50 cm above the ground caught the highest numbers of adult fruit flies and they were not significantly different each other. Thus, these combinations should be recommended to the pepper growers to control the insect in their plantations.