FAQ

Q: How serious is the fruit fly problem around the world?

A: Tephritid fruit flies belong to a large group of insects in Diptera: Tephritidae and are widely distributed around the world, with more than 500 genera and 5000 species.

Among them, harmful species are mainly distributed in six genera, Anastrepha, Bactrocera, Ceratitis, Zeugodacus and Rhagoletis. These flies are notorious for causing immense economic losses due to their infestation of many types of commercial fruits and vegetables; therefore, significant effort is carried out in the risk analysis progress, and takes substantial investments for control. Moreover, these flies are highly valued quarantine or invasive agricultural pests internationally that have the characteristics of rapid spread, invasiveness and destructiveness.

Oriental fruit fly, one of the most destructive pest in many parts of the world, attacks more than 400 fruits and vegetables, including mangoes, citrus, guavas, apricots, avocado, papaya, cherries, figs, peaches, pears, plums and tomatoes etc.

Fruit Fly — A Major Threat to the Horticulture Industry worldwide –

For more videos on fruit fly management, please visit our YouTube channel.

Q: How to differentiate a male and female fruit fly through naked eye?

A: Female fruit flies have an ovipositor through which they lay their eggs, which is absent in male flies.

Please click on the link to see: Fruit Fly laying eggs video

Q: Which is more damaging one and why ?

A: Female flies are the ones who oviposit on fruits and lay eggs. The eggs develop into larva which feed on the fruit, which eventually rots and falls to the ground. So female flies are the more damaging ones.

Q: Why is fruit fly a difficult pest to control?

A: The peculiar traits of this pest makes it a difficult pest to control. It includes long-distance flight ability, inconspicuous life stages inside fruit and soil, overlapping generations round the year, broad host range, rapid reproduction.

Please click on the link to see: Fruit Fly Life Cycle - Larva to Pupa Stage Video

Q: Do Pheromone traps effectively control fruit flies?

A: Pheromones (ME lure, Cue Lure, Tri medlure) only attract the male flies, while the female flies continue to cause the damage. So, pheromone traps should be deployed only to monitor the fly population but not control.

Q: What are the benefits of GFFB over conventional chemicals?

Q: What is “Attract & Kill” technology in GFFB?

A: GFFB attracts both male and female flies, and particularly immature females searching for protein food for egg development.

To know more about GFFBs “Attract and Kill" feature, please watch the video - Attract & Kill Fruit Flies using GFFB

Q: Why protein based baits are effective in fruit fly control?

A: Tephritid fruit flies require protein for sexual and gonotrophic development. GREAT® Fruit Fly Bait (GFFB) is a unique formula designed based on the knowledge of the biological behaviors and dynamics of fruit flies, especially their needs for special nutrients after emerging from the pupa. It attracts both male and female flies, and particularly immature females searching for protein food for egg development.

Please click to see the fruit fly control video - Mass baiting with GREAT® fruit fly bait (GFFB)

Q: How many fruit fly species can be attracted by Protein attractant (PA)?

A: There are many fruit fly species can be attracted by protein attractant such as Anastrepha fraterculus (Wiedemann), Anastrepha grandis (Macquart), Anastrepha ludens (Loew), Anastrepha obliqua (Macquart), Anastrepha serpentina (Wiedemann), Anastrepha striata (Schiner), Anastrepha suspensa (Loew), Bactrocera dorsalis (Hendel), Bactrocera cucurbitae(Hendel), Bactrocera minax (Enderlein), Bactrocera cucumis (French), Bactrocera Zonata(Hendel), Bactrocera jarvisi (Tryon), Bactrocera latifrons (Hendel), Bactrocera oleae (Gmelin), Bactrocera tsuneonis (Miyake), Ceratitis capitata (Wiedemann), Ceratitis cosyra (Walker), Ceratitis rosa (Karsch), Dacus ciliatus (Loew), Myiopardalis pardalina (Bigot).

(From Trapping guidelines for area-wide fruit fly programmes Second edition, Edited by Walther R. Enkerlin Joint FAO/IAEA Programme of Nuclear Techniques in Food and Agriculture Jesus Reyes Flores Private consultan Vienna, 2018).

Q: Does the efficacy of a bait product depend on the concentration of protein - the higher the protein percentage the better the effect?

A: No. protein alone does not lure fruit flies. Our bait features hydrolyzed protein, protein subjected to enzymatic degradation, breaking it down into smaller structures like polypeptides, dipeptides, and amino acids. Fruit flies are drawn to hydrolyzed protein, but its effectiveness as bait extends beyond protein concentration alone. The attracting efficiency is not solely dictated by the protein concentration.

Q: What is the protein concentration of GFFB?

A: GFFB is a formulated bait containing hydrolysed protein. It also contains many other fruit fly attracting ingredients, feeding stimulants, bio-insecticidal active ingredient, and adjuvants that make the bait more efficient in the field. GFFB contains 9.5% of hydrolysed protein, in the form of polypeptides, dipeptides, and amino acids. So, protein concentration in GFFB is usually measured in total nitrogen concentration.

Q: What are the target plants infested by fruit flies?

A: Overall, there are more than 4,400 tephritid fruit fly species known worldwide, with nearly 200 considered to be pests. Below are the number of host plants attacked by the major pests of economic importance:

Bactrocera dorsalis – Oriental fruit fly – 627 host plants

Ceratitis capitata - Mediterranean Fruit Fly – 538 host plants

Bactrocera cucurbitae - Melon Fly – 273 host plants

Bactrocera carambolae - Carambola Fruit Fly – 141 host plants

Bactrocera zonata - Peach Fruit Fly – 136

Anastrepha obliqua – West Indian Fruit Fly - 150 host plants

Anastrepha ludens – Mexican fruit fly – 96 host plants

Bactrocera latifrons – 82 host plants

Primarily attacks the citrus fruits (orange, mandarin, lemon, grapefruit), guava, mango, peach, apricot, avocado, pomegranate, kiwi, apple, pear, pineapple, watermelon, pumpkin, bitter gourd, other melon and gourd family crops etc.

Q: Is GFFB applied in any other countries outside China?

A: A total of 260,000 hectares were applied with GFFB from 2012-2021. This product alone has saved fruit farmers US $20 million in losses in the 10 years by reducing Fruit damage rate to <1%. Our products have been exported to West Africa, South Asia, Southeast Asia, South America providing pest control and technical services to a large number of growers worldwide.

Please see the fruit fly control video in Mango published by West and Central African Council for Agricultural Research and Development (CORAF/WECARD) featuring GFFB in Ghana:

-Killing fruit flies with food baits

-From Farmer to Farmer: Fruit Fly Control

Q: Does GFFB contain pesticide?

A: There are 2 variants available for GFFB, one with 0.1% Abamectin (Active ingredient), and the other without any chemical. For the variant without any chemical, users need to mix appropriate dosage of chemicals locally prior to application. Please contact, Ecoman’s team for the appropriate chemical dosage.

Q: Can users mix EC formulation chemicals to the chemical free variant of GFFB?

A: It is strongly recommended not to mix EC formulation chemicals with GFFB. Please use chemicals in SC formulation for best results.

Q: Can we cover spray GFFB along with other chemicals?

A: No, it is not recommended to mix GFFB with other chemicals. GFFB needs to be spot sprayed (not cover sprayed) on the underside of the leaves in a 0.5-1 sq.mt area.

The spraying efficiency per day is 3-4 times higher than conventional cover spraying as they only need to spray 60-70 spots per acre (or 150-175 spots per hectare).

Q: How much litres of GFFB is required per acre or hectare of a plot?

A: 1L GFFB per acre or 2.5L GFFB per hectare.

Q: How to use this product in my orchard?

A: Step 1: For 1 acre plot, dilute 1L GFFB with 2-3 litres of water and mix thoroughly.

For 1 hectare plot, dilute 2.5L GFFB with 5-7.5 litres of water and mix thoroughly.

Step 2: Using knapsack, spray in 60-70 spots per acre (150-175 spots per hectare) on the underside of the leaves in a 0.5-1 sq.mt area.

Step 3: Spray every 6-8 metres at the boundary regions and 8-10 metres within the orchard.

Q: How can I buy this product?

A: For inquiries or purchase, please write to us at – beijingecomanbiotech@gmail.com

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