ARS | Publication request: Male Fishia yosemitae (Grote)(Lepidoptera: Noctuidae) captured in traps baited with (Z)-7-dodecenyl acetate and (Z)-9-tetradecenyl acetate

Submitted to: Journal of Kansas Entomological Society
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: August 8, 2011
Publication Date: December 15, 2011
Citation: Landolt, P.J., Brumley, J.A., Guedot, C.N., Wanner, K.W., Morales, A. 2011. Male Fishia yosemitae (Grote)(Lepidoptera: Noctuidae) captured in traps baited with (Z)-7-dodecenyl acetate and (Z)-9-tetradecenyl acetate. Journal of Kansas Entomological Society. 84:184-189.

Interpretive Summary: Cutworms are larvae of moths that can severely damage a number of agricultural crops, including potato. Pheromone-baited traps are used to detect and monitor the adult moths of these pests. Researchers at the USDA-ARS laboratory in Wapato, Washington are collaborating with scientists at Montana State University to improve the specificity of these lures for cutworm moths for use in integrated pest management programs. Experiments evaluated a variety of pheromone lures and documented which species of moths were attracted. It was found that the combination of (Z)-7-dodecenyl acetate and (Z)-9-tetradecenyl acetate, which is part of sex pheromones for dingy cutworm, western yellowstriped armyworm, and silver Y moths, also attracts numbers of the non-pest moth Fishia yosemitae, but only very late in the season. This information will be useful to growers and pest managers who will need to consider the potential for multiple species captured in traps with these chemicals, and to properly sort and identify trapped moths.

Technical Abstract: Traps baited with sex pheromone lures for the noctuid moths Chrysodeixis eriosoma (Doubleday) and Feltia jaculifera (Guenee) captured males of another noctuid moth Fishia yosemitae (Grote). These lures included both (Z)-7-dodecenyl acetate (Z7-12Ac) and (Z)-9-tetradecenyl acetate (Z9-14AC). When these chemicals were tested separately and together as lures in traps, F. yosemitae males were not captured in traps baited with Z7-12Ac alone, or Z-9-14Ac alone, but were consistently captured in traps baited with a one to one mixture of the two chemicals. In three field tests, male F. yosemitae were trapped in late September and early October. This moth is not an agricultural pest, but may be captured in traps used to detect or monitor several important armyworm, cutworm, and looper pests of agricultural crops, interfering with the monitoring of those pests.