Species Composition, Abundance and Bait Preference of Fruit Flies in Domestic and Wild Habitats in Ahmadu Bello University Main-Campus and Environs, Zaria – Nigeria

Abstract

The control of fruit flies is largely done with baited traps, but finding what substances they are most
attracted to can improve the effectiveness of these baits. In this study, six fruits and two household
substances including, banana, orange, watermelon, pineapple, cocktail, locally made pap and decayed
bread were used as bait traps. These were placed in two ecologically distinct habitats - domestic
and wild, to determine the species composition, abundance and bait preference of fruit flies. The
domestic habitat had a total of 805 flies, including Drosophila melanogaster 753, Zaprionus
tuberculatus 30 and Drosophila buzatti 22. In the wild, a total of 1492 flies were trapped of which
813 were Drosophila melanogaster, Zaprionous tuberculatus 491, Zaprionous indianus 113 and
Drosophila ananasea 75. Orange baits proved most effective in trapping flies possibly due to the
chemical compounds discharged by the peel known as limonene in both domestic and wild
habitats.