Alternative Toxicants for Monitoring of Fruit Flies (Tephritidae: Diptera) in Mango Orchard of Uttarakhand, India

Abstract

Fruit flies are important pests of mango, and methyl eugenol-based trapping is widely used for their field monitoring. This study evaluated selected insecticidal toxicants in methyl eugenol bottle traps under mango orchard conditions at Pantnagar, Uttarakhand, during the 2025 and 2026 fruiting seasons. Five insecticidal toxicants and a lure-only control were assessed in a replicated field experiment. Cotton wicks were treated with ethyl alcohol, methyl eugenol, and insecticide in a 6:4:1 ratio, and the lure–toxicant mixture was replaced at 15-day intervals. Adult fruit flies were counted daily for eight weeks, and treatment effects were evaluated using analysis of variance. Significant differences in trap catches were recorded in both years. Dichlorvos 76% EC produced the highest mean catches, with 204.84 flies per trap in 2025 and 312.14 flies per trap in 2026. Malathion 50 EC ranked second, with corresponding catches of 173.04 and 265.51 flies per trap. Deltamethrin 2.8% EC also recorded comparatively high catches, whereas fipronil 5% SC and the lure-only control produced lower catches. The results indicate that the toxicant used with methyl eugenol influenced the capture and retention of responsive fruit flies. Malathion 50 EC and deltamethrin 2.8% EC may therefore be considered promising alternatives for trap-based monitoring, subject to further validation of persistence, regulatory suitability, non-target safety, and orchard-scale effectiveness.