Fruit flies of sweet oranges in Nigeria: species diversity, relative abundance and spread in major producing areas

Introduction. Fruit fly attack on citrus causes economic yield losses in Nigeria. The high demand for sweet oranges in recent times necessitates the need to develop control strategies that can reduce fruit fly damage and ameliorate yield. This can be achieved by identifying the diversity, abundance and spread of major sweet orange fruit flies. Materials and methods. Surveys were conducted during the citrus fruit maturity periods of 2003 and 2006 in citrus-producing areas of Nigeria. Owners of the sampled orchards were interviewed on their cultural practices that could contribute to fruit fly abundance and spread. The fruit flies were sampled by using two types of trap; namely, the McPhail® trap with yeast hydrolysate bait and the yellow sticky trap impregnated with ammonium acetate. The traps were hung on the citrus trees at a distance of 1.8 m from the ground. The distance between trees was 25 m and the traps were replicated three times per site. Results and discussion. Fruit flies identified on citrus belonged to the genera Bactrocera, Ceratitis, Dacus and Trirhithrum. While higher fruit fly diversity was observed in Edo, Ogun and Oyo states in the rainforest ecological zone, relatively higher populations of major genera (Bactrocera and Ceratitis) were recorded in Benue and Kaduna states in the Guinea savanna ecological zone. Bactrocera species occurrence increased during the second sampling period. Some farmers’ cultural practices were implicated as factors likely to have contributed to fruit fly abundance and spread. Conclusion. Fruit fly species of economic importance to citrus in Nigeria belonged to the genera Ceratitis and Bactrocera species. These genera were observed in the majority of surveyed areas. Introduction. L'attaque des agrumes par les mouches des fruits au Nigéria cause des pertes de rendement à répercussions économiques. La forte demande d’oranges douces enregistrée ces derniers temps impose de développer des stratégies de contrôle aptes à réduire les dommages imputables aux mouches des fruits et à améliorer le rendement. Cela peut être réalisé en identifiant la diversité, l'abondance et la diffusion des principales mouches des fruits des oranges douces. Matériel et méthodes. Des prospections ont été menées pendant les périodes de maturité des agrumes en 2003 et en 2006, dans des zones productrices du Nigéria. Les propriétaires des vergers échantillonnés ont été interviewés sur les pratiques culturales qui pourraient contribuer à l’accr