Evaluation of Ceranock Attract and Kill System to Control Mediterranean Fruit Fly （Ceratitis capitata） in Citrus Orchards of Iraq

Field experiments were conducted using Ceranock bait station, ＂attract and kill＂ system to combat Mediterranean fruit fly, Ceratitis capitata, in citrus orchards of Baghdad and Wasit governorates, Iraq, during 2013-2014 season. Control program was implemented in six citrus orchards of mixed citrus varieties： Orange, Citrus sinensis; Mandarin, C. reticulate; Lemon, C. lemon; and Bergamot, C. aurantium. Ceranock traps 240/ha were hanged in trees of two separate orchards in each location, with third orchard served as control. Delta and McPhail traps supplied with pheromone were used to monitor Medfly population density in treated and control orchards. Results indicated that Medfly activity and presence in citrus orchards started during the first week of October coincide with the beginning of fruits ripening. The result indicated that Medfly population density in Wasit orchards was more than that of Baghdad orchards. The total trapped insects after two weeks of Ceranock were 59, 94, 142 and 205, 277, 765 adults for the firsst, second and the control orchards in the two locations, respectively. The percentage of fruit injuries were increased dramatically when fruits mature and its color turn to yellowish reaching of 35%, 56%, 21% and 32% in mandarin and orange fruits in Baghdad and Wasit orchards, respectively, compared with 3%, 4%, 4% and 5% in treated orchards, respectively. Calculated percentage of fruit damage indicated that reduction in injuries were 97% in mandarin and 96% in orange at Baghdad orchards and were 95% and 96%, respectively, in Wasit orchards. The results of this study demonstrate clearly the efficacy of Ceranock bait station, ＂attract and kill＂ system as a control measure for Medfly in citrus orchards.     

Comparing Immature Development and Life History Traits in Two Coexisting Host-Feeding Parasitoids,Diglyphus isaea and Neochrysocharis formosa （Hymenoptera：Eulophidae）

Coexisting natural enemies that share a common host resource in the same guild usually exhibit variation in their life history traits, due to their need to share a similar ecological niche. In this study, we compared the immature development times and adult life history traits of two coexisting, host-feeding parasitoids, Diglyphus isaea Walker and Neochrysocharis formosa Westwood （Hymenoptera：Eulophidae）, of which both attack larvae of the same agromyzid leafminers. These two species are both synovigenic, idiobiont parasitoids, whose adults consume host lfuids （“host feeding”） and lay anhydropic eggs. Of the two, D. isaea has a larger body but little or no initial egg load, and engages in similar lifetime host-feeding events. However, it achieves higher fecundity, longer adult longevity, and higher host suppression ability than N. formosa, which has a smaller body and higher initial egg load. Although D. isaea engages in similar lifetime host-feeding events with N. formosa, all of its gains in life history traits per host-feeding event of D. isaea were larger than those of N. formosa. The age-speciifc fecundity and host mortality curves of N. formosa were more skewed in early life than those of D. isaea. In addition, the ovigeny index of N. formosa was negatively correlated to body size. Our results conifrmed that two coexisting parasitoids, which share the same host resource, show different immature development patterns and life history traits, suggesting that different resource allocation mode could be a general rule of coexisting species sharing the same habitat or host.