An examination of oviposition choices by the lesser peachtree borer, Synanthedon pictipes (Grote and Robinson) (Lepidoptera: Sesiidae), showed that wounded peach, Prunus persica (L.) Batsch, bark was attractive to females for oviposition. Females responded to bark that was injured mechanically (e.g., hammer blows, knife cuts, pruning wounds), infested by lesser peachtree borer larvae or injured by disease. In fact, there was no difference in female oviposition response to knife cut wounds and knife cut wounds infested with lesser peachtree borer larvae. Oviposition on wounded bark from three different high chill peach cultivars was similar and strongly suggests that the narrow genetic base of high chill peach cultivars grown in the southeastern United States has little inherent resistance to the lesser peachtree borer. In stark contrast, when provided different Prunus spp., i.e., exotic peach and the native species P. angustifolia and P. serotina, the exotic peach was highly preferred for oviposition by the native lesser peachtree borer.
This chapter presents the following insect and mite pests of peach: direct insect pests (Oriental fruit moth, Grapholita molesta; codling moth, Cydia pomonella; peach twig borer, Anarsia lineatella; tufted apple bud moth, Platynota idaeusalis; plum curculio, Conotrachelus nenuphar; scarab beetles; plant bugs (Miridae); stink bugs (Pentatomidae); leaf-footed bugs (Coreidae); thrips (Thysanoptera); and Mediterranean fruit fly, Ceratitis capitata), indirect insect pests (peach tree borers, Synanthedon spp.; armoured scale (Diaspididae); and aphids, Aphididae) and mite pests (two-spotted spider mite, Tetranychus urticae, and European red mite, Panonychus ulmi). The effects of these pests on crop growth and yield are discussed. The life history and management (mainly through pheromone mating disruption and chemical control methods) of these pests are covered.
Fig. 1 Average number of male S. pictipes captured in peach orchards over 4 wk using pheromone-baited traps placed 0 m, 1.8 m, 3.6 m and 5.5 m above ground. In peach orchards, traps at 1.8 m were within the canopy zone, whereas, traps at 0 m and 3.6 m or 5.5 m were below and above the orchard canopy, respectively. All traps in woods were within the understory. Upper or lower case letters above columns separately indicate significant difference (P<0.05) in capture at different trap heights in orchards or woods, respectively. *, indicates significant difference (P<0.05) between paired columnsThe online version of the original article can be found under http://dx
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