Attraction of Female Caribbean Fruit Flies, Anastrepha suspensa (Diptera: Tephritidae), to the Presence of Males and Male-Produced Stimuli in Field Cages1

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Abstract
Male Caribbean fruit flies (caribflies) produce airborne sex pheromones and calling sounds. We tested the response of sexually mature virgin female caribflies, released onto field-caged guava trees to: (1) caged sexually mature males; (2) tape-recorded calling sound; (3) sex pheromone extract; (4) sound + extract; and (5) empty control trap. Males attracted 4.2–fold as many females as the control; sound attracted 2.4–fold as many; extract attracted 2.5–fold as many; and sound + extract attracted 1.9–fold as many. All stimuli except the control attracted most females in the late afternoon. The trap containing the males captured significantly more females than any other treatment. The extract and the sound separately captured significantly more than the controls, although sound and extract together were not significantly different from the controls.