Methods of Attracting Drosophila Suzukii Using Acetoin Blend

Abstract

Methods of attracting Drosophila suzukii, involving treating an object or area with a Drosophila suzukii attracting effective amount of a composition containing acetoin and at least one compound selected from ethyl octanoate, acetic acid, ethyl acetate, phenethyl alcohol, or mixtures thereof; wherein said composition does not contain ethanol.

Description

REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION[0001]This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application No. 62 / 304,497 filed 7 Mar. 2016, which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION[0002]Disclosed are methods of attracting Drosophila suzukii, involving treating an object or area with a Drosophila suzukii attracting effective amount of a composition containing acetoin and at least one compound selected from ethyl octanoate, acetic acid, ethyl acetate, phenethyl alcohol, or mixtures thereof; wherein said composition does not contain ethanol.[0003]The spotted wing drosophila (SWD), Drosophila suzukii Matsumura (Diptera: Drosophilidae), is an invasive fruit-infesting fly native to Southeast Asia (Calabria, G., et al., J. Appl. Entomol., 136: 139-147 (2010)). Since it was accidently introduced to the United States in August in California in 2008, D. suzukii has rapidly spread across the United States and has been detected in a total of 41 state...

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

The patent describes a way to attract Drosophila suzukii, which is a type of fly, by using a special mixture of chemicals including acetoin and certain compounds like ethyl octanoate, acetic acid, ethyl acetate, or phenethyl alcohol. It is important that the mixture does not contain ethanol. This method can be used to attract flies in order to study them or to control their populations.

Problems solved by technology

D. suzukii attacks a wide variety of fruit and has become a devastating pest of soft-skinned fruit crops, such as raspberries, blueberries, cherries, and strawberries, etc.

Fruit infestation by D. suzukii larvae has resulted in significant financial losses to farmers (Walsh, D. B., et al., J. Integr. Pest Manage., 2: G1-G7 (2011); Cini, A., et al., Bull. Insectol., 65: 149-160 (2012)).

However, apple cider vinegar is not selective; in a study testing different trap designs using apple cider vinegar as bait it was found that only 26-31% of the total numbers of Drosophila spp. caught in traps were D. suzukii (Lee et al.

In addition, ACV baited traps are ineffective at detecting flies before populations reach an economic injury level, leaving farmers without sufficient time to apply protective treatments.

Although an 11-component chemical blend based on raspberry volatiles, and a 8-component blend and a 4-component blend based on wine volatiles have been reported as SWD attractants, they are unsatisfactory for the demands of SWD infestation detection and population monitoring because of poor selectivity and efficiency (Abraham, J., et al., Environ. Entomol., 44: 356-367 (2015); Cha, D., et al., J. Chem. Ecol., 38: 1419-1431 (2012); Cha, D. H., et al., Pest Manage. Sci., 70: 324-331 (2014); Cha, D. H., et al., Entomol. Exp. Appl., 154: 251-260 (2015)).

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