Despite their lower responsiveness to the host plant alone, females showed the strongest anemotactic response when presented with a stimulus combining asparagus volatiles and male pheromones.
Cell walls in developing and germinated asparagus seed mannanase activity in the skin and outer pericarp of tomato fruits during ripening.
When used as a stimulus, male flies were confined within a plastic net cage 2 cm in diameter that was attached to the middle asparagus spear on the upwind side.
The observation that endo- -mannanase is not active in asparagus seeds prior to the completion of germination is in keeping with the hypothesis that the micropylar endosperm structurally facilitates germination.
Hence, in this paper we report on the location and timing of endo- -mannanase production in seeds of germinated asparagus.
Field studies of host finding by the asparagus fly would be necessary to improve control strategies and particularly biological control against this pest.
Males responded to asparagus on the first day after emergence and females responded to the host-plant/male pheromone blend as early as the second day after emergence.
When used with plant odour, eight pieces of asparagus (thickness 0.5 cm) were placed in a cup (diameter 2 cm) at the base of each lure.
