Disappearance of Fruit Fly Lures and Insecticides on Cotton Rope Impregnated with These Mixtures in the Field

Abstract

Strips of cotton rope impregnated with 4 kinds of a mixture of fruit fly lure and insecticide (methyleugenol, cue-lure, diazinon, and fenitrothion) were exposed to sunlight and shade for 16 weeks in a field on Amami Is. in Kagoshima Pref. At various intervals, the residues of the lure and insecticide on the strip were analyzed by gas chromatography with a flame ionization detection. Disappearance behavior of these chemicals portrayed by plotting the residue values in logarithms against the elapsed days was approximated to be a straight line characteristic of first order reactions. Half-life values of methyleugenol, cue-lure, diazinon, and fenitrothion were 0.47, 4.2, 3.4, and 8.0 weeks, respectively. Sunlight and rainfall had no significant effect on the longevity of these chemicals.