Skip to main content
ARS Home » Northeast Area » Kearneysville, West Virginia » Appalachian Fruit Research Laboratory » Innovative Fruit Production, Improvement, and Protection » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #336655
Title: Tempo-spatial dynamics of adult plum curculio (Coleoptera: Curculionidae) based on semiochemical-baited trap captures in blueberries

Author
item HERNANDEZ-CUMPLIDO, JOHNATTAN - Rutgers University
item Leskey, Tracy
item HOLDCRAFT, ROBERT - Rutgers University
item ZAMAN, FARUQUE - Cornell University
item HAHN, NOEL - Rutgers University
item RODRIGUEZ-SAONA, CESAR - Rutgers University

Submitted to: Environmental Entomology
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 11/13/2016
Publication Date: 1/30/2017
Citation: Hernandez-Cumplido, J., Leskey, T.C., Holdcraft, R., Zaman, F.U., Hahn, N.G., Rodriguez-Saona, C. 2017. Tempo-spatial dynamics of adult plum curculio (Coleoptera: Curculionidae) based on semiochemical-baited trap captures in blueberries. Environmental Entomology. DOI: 10.1093/ee/nvx047.

Interpretive Summary: Plum curculio (PC) is a serious pest of highbush blueberries as well as apples, peaches, and tart cherries in the Eastern USA. Here, we evaluated the use of traps baited with PC pheromone and the fruit volatile benzaldehyde in trapping PC in blueberry plantings and compared this method with conventional beat tray sampling. We found that baited traps were effective in capturing PCs and were correlated with beat samples indicating traps can be used to monitor PC activity in blueberry. We also found that PC activity was greater near parts of the planting located near forested areas, where PC often overwinter. Together, our results point toward more efficient methods for monitoring PC activity in blueberry.

Technical Abstract: Plum curculio, Conotrachelus nenuphar (Herbst), has become an important pest of highbush blueberries in the northeastern USA. Here, we conducted experiments in 2010-2013 to compare the efficacy of semiochemical-baited traps for C. nenuphar versus conventional (beating cloth) sampling methods in blueberries, and to understand the seasonal abundance and distribution of C. nenuphar adults within and among blueberry fields using these traps. Black pyramid traps baited with the C. nenuphar aggregation pheromone grandisoic acid and the fruit volatile benzaldehyde caught three to four times more adults than unbaited traps without causing an increase in injury to berries in neighboring bushes. Numbers of adult weevils caught in traps correlated with those on bushes (beating cloth samples), indicating that trap counts can predict C. nenuphar abundance in the field. Early in the season, numbers of C. nenuphar in traps were higher in the interior of fields close to edges near a forest, indicating movement of overwintered weevils from outside fields. Using a trapping network across multiple fields in an organic farm, we found evidence of C. nenuphar aggregation in ‘hotspots’; early in the season, C. nenuphar numbers in traps were higher in the middle of fields, and there was a correlation between these numbers and distance from the forest in 2013 but not in 2012. Altogether, these results show that semiochemical-baited traps are effective in capturing C. nenuphar adults in blueberries and that these traps need to be placed in the interior of fields preferably, but not exclusively, near wooded habitats to maximize their efficacy.