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ARS Home » Pacific West Area » Parlier, California » San Joaquin Valley Agricultural Sciences Center » Commodity Protection and Quality Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #232251

Title: Monitoring Amyelois transitella Males and Females with Phenyl Propionate Traps in Almonds and Pistachios

Author
item Burks, Charles - Chuck
item HIGBEE, BRADLEY - PARAMOUNT
item Kuenen, Lodewyk
item Brandl, David

Submitted to: Entomologia Experimentalis et Applicata
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 9/14/2009
Publication Date: 11/10/2009
Citation: Burks, C.S., Higbee, B.S., Kuenen, L.P., Brandl, D.G. 2009. Monitoring Amyelois transitella Males and Females with Phenyl Propionate Traps in Almonds and Pistachios. Entomologia Experimentalis et Applicata. 133(3):283-291.

Interpretive Summary: Mating disruption for the navel orangeworm has recently become commercially available. Here we report experiments to characterize phenyl propionate as a female attractant to characterize effects of mating disruption on female mating status, as has been done for crop-pest systems in which mating disruption is more established. Phenyl propionate released from glass vials attracted males and both mated and unmated females. The ratio of males to females captured varied between experiments, but there was a consistent trend of more males captured later in a cohort. Development of phenyl propionate for monitoring the effect of mating disruption treatments will make mating disruption for navel orangeworm more cost-effective by helping to refine the necessary release rate and dispenser density.

Technical Abstract: Attractants that lure both sexes and both mated and unmated females have been used to monitor the effect of mating disruption on the mating status and relative abundance of lepidopteran females. For the navel orangeworm, Amyelois transitella (Walker) (Lepidoptera: Pyralidae), phenyl propionate attracts both sexes. In order to examine the effect of trap type and formulation on the number and sex of A. transitella captured by phenyl propionate, and to compare the number of adults captured using phenyl propionate and with other attractants currently used, two experiments were performed in pistachios in 2004 and a third in pistachios and almonds in 2007. Traps baited with phenyl propionate in glass vials with cotton wicks captured significantly more adults than traps baited with almond meal, or with phenyl propionate in water. At the trap densities used we captured sufficient A. transitella for monitoring in pistachios, where abundance is greater, but not in almonds, where abundance is lower. The number of males captured was more variable than the number of females, and the data suggest that phenyl propionate becomes more attractive to males as they age, but not to females. All experiments were conducted in the absence of mating disruption treatments, and the number of virgin females captured (2 to 5%) is consistent with previous black light data on this species. We conclude that phenyl propionate is currently the most effective material available for monitoring A. transitella females, and is potentially useful for examining the effect of mating disruption in other species. The results are discussed in relation to attractants used for this purpose with other Lepidotpera.