Attractive effects of two yeast strains fermented products on Bactrocera dorsalis

Bactrocera dorsalis is a serious insect pest infesting fruits and vegetables. Attract-and-kill adults is one of the control strategies against this pest. However, there have been few efficient and eco-friendly attractants for the control of fruit fly pests up to now. As a result, we conducted metatranscriptomics analysis of B. dorsalis to identify active fungi. The attractiveness of yeast-fermented fruit pulp to B. dorsalis was evaluated through attraction and oviposition bioassays. Meantime, the lure capacity of dominant yeast strain fermented products on B. dorsalis was compared with that of commercially available baits, Smartgreen and Great. The results showed that the dominant fungi, Hanseniaspora uvarum and Pichia kluyveri, attracted significantly more B. dorsalis than that of the control group. The yeasts also stimulated female B. dorsalis laying eggs. Moreover, the mixed yeast-fermented pulp exhibited a significantly higher lure effect on adults of B. dorsalis compared to Smartgreen. While contrasting to Great, the mixed yeast-fermented pulp had a significant luring effect on sexual immature adults as well as sexual mature males. These findings indicated that H. uvarum and P. kluyveri were attractive to B. dorsalis, and the mixed yeast-fermented pulp was more effective targeting B. dorsalis than that of Smartgreen and Great. This study provides basis for developing microbial attractants for the monitoring and control of tephritid fruit fly pests.