Skip to main content
ARS Home » Pacific West Area » Wapato, Washington » Temperate Tree Fruit and Vegetable Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #336807
Research Project: New Technologies and Strategies to Manage the Changing Pest Complex on Temperate Fruit Trees

Location: Temperate Tree Fruit and Vegetable Research

Title: Trapping female Pandemis limitata (Lepidoptera: Tortricidae) moths with mixtures of acetic acid, benzenoid apple leaf volatiles, and sex pheromones

Author
item JUDD, GARY - Agriculture And Agri-Food Canada
item Knight, Alan

Submitted to: The Canadian Entomologist
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 4/1/2017
Publication Date: 9/6/2017
Citation: Judd, G., Knight, A.L. 2017. Trapping female Pandemis limitata (Lepidoptera: Tortricidae) moths with mixtures of acetic acid, benzenoid apple leaf volatiles, and sex pheromones. The Canadian Entomologist. 149(6):813-822. https://doi.org/10.4039/tce.2017.38.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.4039/tce.2017.38

Interpretive Summary: Characterizing the compounds released by plants can help in the discovery of new insect pest attractants that can improve management for growers. Researchers at the USDA, ARS, Yakima Agricultural Research Laboratory, Wapato, WA in collaboration with researchers at Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada field-tested several chemical combinations to identify new attractants for both moth sexes of Pandemis limitata, an important moth pest of orchards in western North America. Information from this research supports the continued effort to develop even more effective lures that can be used in trap-based monitoring program for important moth pests in tree fruits.

Technical Abstract: Pandemis limitata (Robinson) is one of several leaf-feeding caterpillar pests of commercial tree-fruit crops in British Columbia. Recent discovery that European Pandemis spp. are attracted to lures containing acetic acid (AA) and caterpillar-induced benzenoid apple leaf volatiles, 2-phenylethanol and phenylacetonitrile, prompted our examination of P. limitata response to these compounds. Trapping tests in organic apple orchards revealed that neither of the individual benzenoids or a binary combination was attractive. AA synergized and significantly increased catches when combined with 2-phenylethanol, phenylacetonitrile or both together, with male and female moths responding similarly. Catch of either sex with AA + 2-phenylethanol or AA + 2-phenylethanol + phenylacetonitrile was similar, and significantly greater than catches with AA + phenylacetonitrile, respectively. Moth catches increased significantly with a 1.5-fold increase in 2-phenylethanol emission from prototype membrane dispensers combined with AA co-lures. Catches with 2-phenylethanol dispensers were unaffected by a two-fold increase in AA co-lure emission. Placing AA + 2-phenylethanol dispensers in traps baited with sex pheromone significantly reduced male and female catch. The AA + 2-phenylethanol + phenylacetonitrile blend is suitable for capturing P. limitata and sympatric tortricid species like eye-spotted bud moth that require inclusion of phenylacetonitrile to elicit maximal catches. This ternary blend provides opportunities to develop multispecies bisexual trapping systems to improve management of sympatric tortricid pests currently causing economic losses in organic apples in British Columbia.