Abstract
Fruit flies are a group of pests of the world's fruit culture responsible for causing direct damage to fruits, making them unsuitable for commercialization. In this sense, monitoring with food attractions and describing the species present are actions that contribute to the management of this insect pest. Thus, the objective was to carry out a bibliographic survey on the main food attractions used and the main species of fruit flies described in Paraíba, a state in which fruit growing is highly relevant in many regions. The results analyzed indicate that the efficiency of monitoring the population of fruit flies depends on the location, type of trap and variety of fruits. Baits prepared from locally available materials, such as sugar cane molasses, fruit juice and yeast, have been reported in use, these attractions are ecological and effective for the management of fruit flies. However, the use of commercial attractants, such as Bio Anastrepha® at 5%, results in the best cost benefit when compared to fruit juice at 30%. In Paraíba, studies on fruit flies are scarce with only 12 species described, 11 of which are Anastrepha and 1 of Ceratitis. The use of food attractions in monitoring fruit flies is the cheapest method of controlling this pest. More detailed studies in all micro-regions of the state on the occurrence of fruit flies are necessary, in order to contribute to the generation of knowledge about these species, and, consequently, efficient strategies for their control.