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ARS Home » Pacific West Area » Wapato, Washington » Temperate Tree Fruit and Vegetable Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #336945
Research Project: New Technologies and Strategies to Manage the Changing Pest Complex on Temperate Fruit Trees

Location: Temperate Tree Fruit and Vegetable Research

Title: Developing kairomone-based lures and traps targeting female Spilonota ocellana (Lepidoptera: Tortricidae) in apple orchards treated with 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: 4/15/2017
Publication Date: 9/8/2017
Citation: Judd, G., Knight, A.L. 2017. Developing kairomone-based lures and traps targeting female Spilonota ocellana (Lepidoptera: Tortricidae) in apple orchards treated with sex pheromones. The Canadian Entomologist. 149(5):1-15. https://doi.org/10.4039/tce.2017.37.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.4039/tce.2017.37

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 Spilonota ocellana. 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: Spilonota ocellana (Denis and Schiffermüller) can be a serious pest of organic apples in British Columbia. Recent discovery that S. ocellana moths are attracted by a lure combining acetic acid (AA) and benzyl nitrile (BN), a caterpillar-induced apple leaf volatile, provides an opportunity to develop bisexual mass-trapping or monitoring systems. Delta traps baited with BN (10 mg / rubber septum) and an AA co-lure (3 mL / 3-mm open vial) caught significantly more moths than either component alone. AA was weakly attractive but BN was not attractive. The type and size of rubber septum used to release BN had little effect on moth catch with AA-BN lures, but catches increased with increasing loads of BN. Male and total moth catch was maximized using membrane release devices loaded with a mixture of BN and 2-phenylethanol (PET) in combination with an AA co-lure, but female catch with AA-BN and AA-PET lures was equivalent. Placing AA-BN lures in traps with female sex pheromone reduced male catches, but had no effect on female catches. When serviced weekly, white delta traps baited with AA-BN caught more moths than similarly baited white Multipher®-I bucket traps, or transparent Unitraps™. Multipher traps with a propylene glycol killing agent caught more moths than those with Vapona insecticide strips. In apple orchards treated with sex pheromone mating disruption, traps baited with AA-BN caught slightly more total moths than traps baited with sex pheromone. Weekly, total male + female moth catches with either AA-BN or sex pheromone showed similar seasonal patterns in both untreated and pheromone-disrupted orchards, respectively. Long-lasting release devices and an organic killing agent are needed to develop certified organic mass-trapping technologies for management of S. ocellana with the AA-BN kairomone.