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ARS Home » Pacific West Area » Wapato, Washington » Temperate Tree Fruit and Vegetable Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #250419
Title: Improved Monitoring of Female Codling Moth (Lepidoptera: Tortricidae) with Pear Ester Plus Acetic Acid in Sex Pheromone-treated Orchards

Author
item Knight, Alan

Submitted to: Environmental Entomology
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 3/29/2010
Publication Date: 7/15/2010
Citation: Knight, A.L. 2010. Improved Monitoring of Female Codling Moth (Lepidoptera: Tortricidae) with Pear Ester Plus Acetic Acid in Sex Pheromone-treated Orchards. Environmental Entomology 39(4):1283.1290.

Interpretive Summary: Codling moth is an important pest of apple, pear, and walnut with a worldwide distribution. Control sprays applied for this pest comprise a significant proportion of the total insecticide usage in these crops. ARS researchers at the USDA, ARS, Yakima Agricultural Research Laboratory, Wapato, WA have developed the use of potent lure and trap combination to increase the catch of female moths. Being able to monitor female codling moth may give growers a greater ability to predict the numbers of larvae attacking fruits within their orchards. Thus growers’ control efforts can be more closely matched with the pest pressure in their orchard and unnecessary insecticide sprays can be eliminated.

Technical Abstract: Catch of codling moth, Cydia pomonella (L.), in clear delta traps baited with ethyl (E,Z)-2,4-decadienoate (pear ester, PE) and acetic acid (AA) in separate lures (PE+AA) was compared with catch in orange delta traps baited with a single lure containing PE and the sex pheromone, (E,E)-8,10-dodecadien-1-ol (PE/PH). Residual analyses and field tests demonstrated that both the PE and AA lures were effective for at least 8 wks. In 2008 in an orchard treated with sex pheromone dispensers (MD) the two trap-lure combinations caught a similar number of total moths. However, the mean catch of female moths was significantly higher and male moths significantly lower in the clear-PE+AA versus the orange-PE/PH trap-lure combination. Season-long studies were conducted in MD (n = 6) and non-MD (n = 7) orchards during 2009. The two trap-lure combinations caught similar numbers of moths in MD orchards. In contrast, in non-MD orchards total catch was significantly higher (> 2-fold) in the orange-PE/PH compared with the clear-PE+AA trap-lure combination. The clear-PE+AA trap caught > 6-fold more females than the orange-PE/PH trap in both types of orchards. These studies suggest that deploying clear delta traps baited with PE+AA can be an effective monitoring tool for female codling moth and an alternative to sex pheromone-baited traps in MD orchards.