ARS | Publication request: Trap Response of Abagrotis orbis (Grote) Cutworm Moths (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae) to a Sex Attractant Lure in Grape Vineyards

Submitted to: The Canadian Entomologist
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: November 18, 2009
Publication Date: April 10, 2010
Repository URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10113/44512
Citation: Landolt, P.J., Lowery, T., Wright, L.C., Smithhisler, C., Guedot, C.N., James, D.G. 2010. Trap Response of Abagrotis orbis (Grote) Cutworm Moths (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae) to a Sex Attractant Lure in Grape Vineyards. The Canadian Entomologist. 142:135-142.

Interpretive Summary: Cutworms are larvae of moths that can severely damage new spring buds of fruit trees and vines. Monitoring of these moths with chemical attractants could be used to determine their presence and abundance and the need of a grower to treat an orchard or vineyard with pesticide. Researchers at the USDA-ARS laboratory in Wapato, Washington, in collaboration with scientists at Washington State University in Prosser, Washington and Agriculture Food Canada in Summerland, British Columbia, are developing chemical attractants for monitoring of pest species of cutworms. They identified a sex pheromone in females of the cutworm Abagrotis orbis, and demonstrated the attractiveness of this pheromone in a trap in the field. They then used this lure to determine the seasonal timing of flight of the moth. This information should provide growers with the means to detect and monitor this serious cutworm pest of orchards and vineyards in Washington and British Columbia.

Technical Abstract: Larvae of Abagrotis orbis (Grote) are climbing cutworms and can damage grapevines (Vitis sp.) in early spring when they consume the expanding buds. A sex attractant would likely be useful for monitoring this insect in commercial grape vineyards. (Z)-7-tetradecenyl acetate and (Z)-11-hexadecenyl acetate were found in extracts of female abdominal tips. In multiple field experiments, male A. orbis were captured in traps baited with the combination of these two chemicals, but were not captured in traps baited with either chemical alone. Males were trapped from mid-September into early October, both in south central Washington and south central British Columbia. The noctuid moth pests Mamestra configurata Walker, Xestia c-nigrum (L.), and Feltia jaculifera (Guenee) were also captured in traps baited with the 2-component A. orbis pheromone blend and may obfuscate the use of the lure to monitor A. orbis. A second Abagrotis species, Abagrotis discoildalis (Grote), was captured in traps baited with (Z)-7-tetradecenyl acetate, and not in traps baited with the two chemicals together.