Location: Commodity Protection and Quality Research
Project Number: 2034-43000-043-045-T
Project Type: Trust Fund Cooperative Agreement
Start Date: Apr 30, 2021
End Date: Feb 28, 2025
Objective:
Evaluate seasonal changes in NOW Egg disposition on pistachios under different crop management regimes.
Approach:
Young mated females will be obtained as described in Burks et al. 2011. Briefly, larvae will be isolated by sex during the last larval instar. On the day of adult emergence, groups of 5 males and 5 females will be paired in liter jars. The following day pairs in copula will be isolated from the jars at sun-up (lights on in the environmental chamber). The adults will be allowed to unpair, and groups of five females will be gathered for release.
Sufficient known-mated females will be generated in the manner to provide 5 females per field sleeve cage for 10 replicate cages for four crop nutrition and load treatments; i.e., 200 females per infestation date. This will be done bi-weekly for 6 infestation dates, from August 1 to October 10. Mated navel orangeworm females will be provided to collaborators for infestation of sleeve cages in commercial orchard sites, with subsequent evaluation of eggs laid and nuts infested. These responses will be correlated with developments of husk development by the plant science team to allow prediction of husk breakdown and pistachio nut vulnerability.
