Cera Trap, a mass trapping system for the control of the Ceratitis capitata in citrus fruit crops.

The fruit fly Ceratitis capitata is one of the most damaging and difficult pest to control for citrus fruit production and other fruit crops since it is, among other factors, highly polyphagous and widely spread.The traditional control method of this pest, based mainly on insecticide treatments close to harvest time, is currently not well thought of because of its toxicological and environmental concerns.CeraTrap is an attractant formulation of natural origin, free of pesticides and based on a liquid protein obtained by an exclusive method of enzymatic hydrolysis, with a strong attraction capacity for medfly and with a higher ratio of attraction for young females than males. Furthermore, through the field development, CeraTrap has been assayed not only against C. capitata but against other species such as Bactrocera dorsalis, B. zonata, Rhagoletis cerasi and Anastrepha sp. among others.The system functions thanks to regular emissions of volatile and semi-volatile organic compounds. Due to this, the flies are strongly attracted to enter into the trap, and being unable to escape, drown in the liquid and die.The main compounds isolated and identified in CeraTrap were heterocyclic amines which appear to play an important role as fly attractants.Many field trials were carried out over the last four years in different countries such as Spain, Morocco, Italy, Portugal, Egypt, Malaysia, Australia, and so on, with results indicating effectiveness and successful control of the medfly pest.Here we describe some field trials conducted in Spain and Morocco with early citrus varieties comparing the efficacy of this system against the local standard practices.