author(s)
Mostafa M El-Metwally, Mohamed E Mostafa and Nabil M Ghanim

abstract
The Mediterranean fruit fly (MFF), Ceratitis capitata (Wiede­mann) (Diptera: Tephritidae) is one of the most important pests destructing fruits round the world. Dilution of trimedlure with different oils (paraffin, soya bean, sun flower and castor) was evaluated under field conditions in two districts (Mansoura and Aga) in Dakahlia governorate, Egypt. Treatments were injected in cotton wicks as dispensers of Jackson traps. The obtained data of the two districts concluded that adding paraffin or castor oils to trimedlure with a concentration of 25% attracted the highest numbers of MFF adult males all over eight weeks; while, the lowest treatments were those of adding 50% of soya bean or castor oils to trimedlure. The most stable treatments all over eight passed weeks were those of diluted with paraffin oil; while, the most inhibited treatments by the time passed were those of diluted with soya bean oil. Adding of the selected oils to trimedlure reduced its density and increased its viscosity. Statistically, density of the tested treatments had an adverse effect on their efficiency as attractants for MFF adult males. On contrary, viscosity of the tested treatments had an extrusive effect on their efficiency.