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ARS Home » Pacific West Area » Wapato, Washington » Temperate Tree Fruit and Vegetable Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #326518
Research Project: Systems Approach for Managing Emerging Insect Pests and Insect-Transmitted Pathogens of Potatoes

Location: Temperate Tree Fruit and Vegetable Research

Title: Hecatera dysodea (Denis and Schiffermüller) (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae) new to the state of Idaho

Author
item LANDOLT, PETER
item ZACK, RICH - WASHINGTON STATE UNIVERSITY
item WENNINGER, ERIK - UNIVERSITY OF IDAHO
item JENSEN, ANDY - WASHINGTON STATE UNIVERSITY
item HOOVER, DOREEN - STERLING INTERNATIONAL, INC.

Submitted to: The Pan-Pacific Entomologist
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 2/17/2017
Publication Date: 3/31/2017
Citation: Landolt, P.J., Zack, R., Wenninger, E.J., Jensen, A., Hoover, D. 2017. Hecatera dysodea (Denis and Schiffermüller) (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae) new to the state of Idaho. Pan-Pacific Entomologist. 93:1-6.

Interpretive Summary: A number of moths in the cutworm family, Noctuidae, are pests of vegetable crops throughout the U.S., including potato. Researchers at the USDA-ARS laboratory in Wapato, Washington develop attractants and monitor for the presence of pest species of moths, including cutworm moths, that may damage potato and other vegetable crops. In collaboration with scientists at Washington State University, the University of Idaho, The Northwest Potato Consortium, and Sterling International Inc. of Spokane, Washington, they determined that a moth native to Europe, Hecatera dysodea, and recently invasive in northern Oregon and southern Washington, has become widespread in western Idaho as well. The larvae of this moth are found on the flower heads of both wild lettuce and cultivated varieties of lettuce. This information will be useful to growers in the vegetable seed industry who may become at risk for a new cutworm pest.

Technical Abstract: Traps baited with a sex attractant were used to determine if the invasive noctuid moth Hecatera dysodea is generally distributed in the state of Idaho. The insect, which originated from Europe, utilizes species of Lactuca (lettuce) as a larval host. It was previously reported from northern Oregon and southern Washington but is not previously reported from the state of Idaho. The moth was captured in traps in seven counties ranging from the south of the state near Utah to the north of the state in the panhandle area. Larvae were also found on wild lettuce near Boise, Idaho, and adults were captured in a light-trap near the southern border. We conclude that the moth is generally distributed in the state at lower elevations where the host plant Lactuca serriola is present.