Integrated Approach to Manage the Pest Complex on Temperate Tree Fruits

 Integrated Approach to Manage the Pest Complex on Temperate Tree Fruits

Project Summary

Temperate tree fruits including apples, pears, and cherries are attacked by a complex of arthropod pests which require insecticides to manage. New or improved integrated pest management (IPM) strategies are needed for tree fruit pests to address environmental concerns associated with the use of pesticides, consumer interest in pesticide-free produce, insecticide resistance, and international and political pressures. The effective use of available IPM tools and the development of new IPM approaches requires broad knowledge of arthropod biology and ecology, which is incomplete for most pests of deciduous tree fruits and nearly absent for newly invasive or emerging pests. Our project uses a multidisciplinary and multifaceted approach to address knowledge gaps in the biology and management of key pests of tree fruits with a primary focus on codling moth, pear psylla, apple maggot, western cherry fruit fly, brown marmorated stink bug, Northern giant hornet, and leafhopper vectors of cherry X-disease.

• Objective 1: Develop new tools and approaches for the prediction and monitoring of apple maggot, pear psylla, and brown marmorated stink bug.
• Objective 2: Provide basic and applied information on the physiology and molecular biology of apple maggot, codling moth, and biology of generalist predators. 
• Objective 3: Test new strategies to control apple maggot and western cherry fruit fly, develop decision making models for pear psylla management based upon the presence and abundance of its key parasitoid, and develop practices to retain generalist natural enemies within orchards.

Completion of this project will decrease tree fruit production costs attributed to management of insect pests. 

Researchers Conducting Tree Fruit Insect Research at YARL:

• Rodney Cooper
  • Rodney Cooper is a Research Entomologist and Research Leader with research interests include the biology, ecology, and host plant-interactions of Hemipteran pests of fruit trees.
• David Horton
  • David Horton is a Research Entomologist having interests in behavioral ecology, biological control and applied ecology. His research focuses on the biology and management of insect pests in pears, with emphasis on pear psylla. Other interests include studies on the population biology and behavior of predatory true bugs in the families Anthocoridae and Miridae.
• Lisa Neven
  • Lisa Neven with research focused on insect physiology with the goal of developing pre- and post-harvest pest management tools based on sound knowledge of the thermal limits of insect survival and development.
• Jacqueline Serrano
  • Jackie Serrano is Research Entomologist with research interests focused on identification of insect semiochemicals and understanding their role in insect behavior.
• Rebecca Schmidt-Jeffris
  • Rebecca Schmidt-Jeffris is a Research Entomologist conducting research on biological control of arthropod pests of apples, pears, and cherries.
• William Walker
  • William Walker is a Research Geneticist and Lead Scientist for the project.  William conducts research on the genetics and genomics of tree fruit insect pests and their natural enemies and translates results toward development of applied management tools.  
• Wee Yee
  • Wee Yee's current research deals with the behavior, ecology, and control of temperate fruit flies (western cherry fruit fly and apple maggot), specifically their mating behavior, dispersal behavior, attraction to traps and lures, and the effects of diet on fecundity.