Dacine fruit flies collected during the dry season in the lowland rainforest of Madang Province, Papua New Guinea (Diptera: Tephritidae)

Dacine fruit flies in the Kau Wildlife Area, a patch of lowland rainforest near Madang, Papua New Guinea, were studied during the dry season of 1996 using Steiner traps baited with cuelure and methyl eugenol. A limited amount of data on larval hosts was obtained from fruit samples collected in the reserve and held in the laboratory. Fruit flies were also trapped at some other lowland rainforest sites near Madang to determine if there were any major differences in species composition between sites. Over 50 species of fruit flies were collected in the Kau Wildlife Area, 25% of which appeared to be undescribed. Trapping at the other lowland rainforest sites yielded only one additional species.