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Title: EFFECTIVENESS OF GYPSY MOTH MATING DISRUPTION FROM AERIAL APPLICATIONS OF PLASTIC LAMINATE FLAKES WITH AND WITHOUT A STICKING AGENT

Author
item Thorpe, Kevin
item LEONARD, D - USDA, FS
item MASTRO, V - USDA, APHIS
item MCLANE, W - USDA, APHIS
item REARDON, R - USDA, FS
item SELLERS, P - USDA, FS
item Webb, Ralph
item TALLEY, S. - ROCKBRIDGE CO., VA

Submitted to: Agricultural and Forest Entomology
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 6/9/2000
Publication Date: N/A
Citation: N/A

Interpretive Summary: The gypsy moth, a serious pest of oak trees in the northeastern United States, continues to expand its range to the south and west. Because of concern over the potential adverse ecological impacts of insecticide spraying, there is increasing interest in the use of mating disruption to slow the spread of this pest. Mating disruption is an environment-friendly ymethod of eradicating small isolated infestations by applying a large enough dose of the gypsy moth sex pheromone, disparlure, to confuse males and prevent mating. This paper reports the results of a two-year study to determine if a sticking agent is necessary when applying Disrupt II, a commercial gypsy moth mating disruption formulation consisting of plastic flakes containing disparlure. The elimination of a sticker from the formulation would reduce costs, simplify application, and make it possible to apply the product without specialized equipment. Tests conducted in wooded plots in Virginia in 1997 and 1998 showed that mating was reduced 99.5% when sticker was used and 86.3% without sticker,indicating that sticker is required to achieve optimum effectiveness. However, in special situations where the use of sticker may be a problem,such as in residential areas or over highways, high levels of mating disruption will occur with treatments without sticker. This information will help government agencies and gypsy moth control specialists who are involved in gypsy moth mating disruption programs decide the best way to use this mating disruption formulation.

Technical Abstract: A commercial gypsy moth mating disruption formulation, Disrupt II (Hercon Laboratories, Emigsville, PA), consisting of 1 x 3 mm plastic laminate flakes impregnated with the gypsy moth pheromone, disparlure, was aerially applied with and without a sticking agent to wooded plots in 1997 and 1998. Treatment effectiveness was assessed from the rates of male moth capture and mating success of both laboratory-reared virgin females and native females. Averaged over the two years of the study, male moth capture was reduced 75.6 and 92.9% in plots treated with flakes without and with sticker, respectively. The treatments also affected the proportion of fertile eggs produced by mated females. Averaged over both years, the percentage of mated females that produced egg masses with more than 5% fertile eggs was reduced 62.8 and 90.0% in plots treated with flakes without and with sticker, respectively. Averaged over both years, the number of laboratory-reared virgin females producing egg masses with more than 5% fertile eggs was reduced 86.3 and 99.5% in plots treated with flakes without and with sticker, respectively. Within each year, moth capture and mating success values did not differ significantly between plots treated with flakes with and without sticker, but the numerical trends given above are consistent across both years and provide strong evidence that mating disruption is less effective when flakes are applied without sticker. However, in special situations where the use of sticker is problematic, such as in residential areas or over busy highways, the data indicate that a high level of mating disruption is likely to occur with the application of Disrupt II flakes without