Evaluation of food attractants based on fig fruit for field capture of the black fig fly, <i>Silba adipata</i> (Diptera: Lonchaeidae)

Abstract Food volatiles can be used in traps for monitoring insect pests. The fig blackfly, Silba adipata McAlpine (Diptera: Lonchaeidae), is the main pest of fig crops in Morelos, Mexico. In this study, five food attractants were evaluated against three commercially-available attractants in plastic traps in commercial fig crops in Morelos, Mexico. The results revealed that the fermented unripe fig and fermented ripe fig attractants captured significantly more fig black flies than the other tested attractants. This new information may be used by fig growers to implement more effective management measures.