Human urine used as a natural attractive of Anastrepha spp. (Diptera: Tephritidae) in guava (Psidium guajava) orchard

Abstract

Aiming to evaluate the efficiency of human urine in comparison to guava juice in monitoring and/or control of Anastrepha spp. in guava orchard, three research studies were conducted in Barbalha, Ceará, Brazil. The first one, from 16 March to 16 April 2012, using guava juice and pure urine donors aged 20, 25, 30, 35, and 40 years old. The second one was conducted from April 25 to June 10, 2013, using guava juice and urine of a 30 year old donor testing concentrations of 10, 30, 50, 70, and 100% human urine, with aging periods of 3, 7, 4, 14, and 21 days. The last research occurred from 27 June to 4 July 2013, and tested the influence of male and female urine, and both mixed. Five McPhail traps were installed in a randomized block design, using 400 mL of the attractive in each one.The traps were examined once a week, and the flies were collected and taken to the laboratory of entomology of the Universidade Federal do Crato, Crato campus, for screening and counting. The adults ofAnastrepha spp. prefer for urine from young donors and those that are more concentrated. The aging of the human urine (seven days) increases the capture of adults of Anastrepha spp. The male urine is more efficient than females' urine, making it inefficient when mixing. Therefore, urine can substitute the guava juice in agroecologic management programs in small producers' guava orchards. It´s free, easy to acquire and to apply.