Location: Innovative Fruit Production, Improvement, and Protection
Project Number: 8080-21000-032-046-S
Project Type: Non-Assistance Cooperative Agreement
Start Date: Sep 15, 2023
End Date: Sep 14, 2025
Objective:
The objectives for this project will include: 1) development of behavioral strategies for using mating disruption in smaller-scale orchard operations; 2) development of behaviorally-based multi-lifestage methods for managing plum curculio in Eastern orchards; and 3) improved monitoring systems for the invasive spotted lanternfly.
Approach:
Studies will be conducted in both the laboratory and field. Objective one will include mark-release-recapture experiments using marking codling moth in increasingly complex landscapes to evaluate dispersal distances as well as flight mill studies. Rates and configurations of mating disruption dispensers will be evaluated in experimental orchard plots. For objective two, Surround (kaolin clay) will be combined with conventional insecticides to determine if they can be used to better manage PC adults in the absence of nematodes. Additionally, entomopathogenic nematodes will be evaluated against larval stages in mid-Atlantic orchards. For objective three, we will use gas chromatography electroantennogram (GC-EAD) to evaluate response to potential host plant and pheromonal stimuli in the laboratory, and experimental lures will be evaluated in the field.
