Project Number: 6618-22320-001-05
Project Type: Nonfunded Cooperative Agreement

Start Date: Jan 01, 2011
End Date: Dec 31, 2015

Objective:
To design and optimize semiochemical-based methods for control of major insect pests such as the citrus leafminer, Phyllocnistis citrella. In addition to field trials, laboratory research will address fundamental aspects of mechanisms underlying mating disruption.

Approach:
Replicated, multilocational field trials will be established in commercial citrus groves to document application rates, coverage and deployment methods to optimize control of major citrus pests such as the citrus leafminer and associated citrus canker disease. Signals from antennae of citrus leafminer and other insects of interest will be recorded in response to odors collected from host plants and conspecifics. Antennae will be connected to a gas chromatograph-coupled electroantennogram (GC-EAD) and compounds of interest will be identified by GC-Mass Spectrometry (GC-MS).