Developing female removal for Cydia pomonella (Lepidoptera: Tortricidae) in organic pear in the USA and Italy

Abstract

Seventeen trials were conducted using traps baited with kairomone‐based lures to evaluate female removal (FR) as an effective management tactic for codling moth, Cydia pomonella, L., in organic pear, Pyrus communis L., production in Italy and USA during 2019–2020. Studies included paired plots (0.4–1.4 ha) treated with or without 60 traps ha−1 in cultivars Bartlett and Abate Fétel. Paired plots were also treated together with or without mating disruption (MD) and with similar spray programmes. Three‐, four‐, and five‐component lures were used with several trap types: green, clear or green/white bucket traps and orange delta traps. The three‐component lure consisted of (E,E)‐8,10‐dodecadien‐1‐ol (sex pheromone, PH), (E,Z)‐2,4‐ethyl decadienoate (pear ester, PE) and acetic acid (AA); the four‐component lure was PE, (E)‐4,8‐dimethyl‐1,3,7‐nonatriene (DMNT), 6‐ethenyl‐2,2,6‐trimethyloxan‐3‐ol (pyranoid linalool oxide, LOX), and AA, and the five‐component lure had PH added. Preliminary studies were also conducted to evaluate the trapping efficacy of non‐saturating bucket traps. A clear bucket trap baited with PE/DMNT/LOX + AA captured 97‐fold more codling moth females than an orange delta trap baited with PH/PE. However, female captures did not differ between traps when both were baited with the four‐component lure. Fruit injury from codling moth was significantly reduced with the implementation of FR in both pear production regions. At harvest, mean fruit protection in the USA studies was 65% and 27% in Italy. This difference was likely associated with the four‐component lure being less effective in Italy than in the USA. Nevertheless, results demonstrate that FR can be a useful approach to remove females immigrating into orchards and as a new tactic to reduce pest pressure in selected areas of orchards allowing both MD and organic insecticide programmes to be more effective. Further studies should investigate the cost‐benefit of matching the intensity of FR to variable pest pressures.

Increasing catches of adult moth pests (Lepidoptera: Tortricidae) in pome fruit with low‐intensity LED lights added to sex pheromone/kairomone lure‐baited traps

“…The potential for "female removal" to be an important tool to manage tortricid pests has been demonstrated for CM in recent studies (Jaffe et al, 2018;Knight et al, 2022;Preti, Knight, Mujica, et al, 2021). Unchecked immigration of mated females into orchards treated with mating disruption or receiving releases of sterile moths is problematic.…”

“…Direct management of tortricid pests via "female removal" alone and in combination with mating disruption has been reported in a few recent studies with codling moth (CM), Cydia pomonella (L.) (Jaffe et al, 2018;Knight et al, 2022;Preti, Knight, Mujica, et al, 2021).…”

“…For example, a 4-component blend of (E,Z)-2,4-ethyl decadienoate (pear ester, PE), (E)-4,8-dimethyl-1,3,7-nonatriene (DMNT), 6-ethe nyl-2,2,6-trimethyloxan-3-ol (pyranoid linalool oxide, pyrLOX), and acetic acid (AA) has been used in apple and pear crops to reduce levels of fruit injury caused by CM up to 60% (Knight et al, 2022;Preti, Knight, Mujica, et al, 2021). This multi-component lure can outperform sex pheromone lures and catches a high proportion of female moths Knight, Mujica, Larsson Herrera, & Tasin, 2019).…”

“…Direct management of tortricid pests via “female removal” alone and in combination with mating disruption has been reported in a few recent studies with codling moth (CM), Cydia pomonella (L.) (Jaffe et al, 2018; Knight et al, 2022; Preti, Knight, Mujica, et al, 2021). For example, a 4‐component blend of ( E,Z )‐2,4‐ethyl decadienoate (pear ester, PE), ( E )‐4,8‐dimethyl‐1,3,7‐nonatriene (DMNT), 6‐ethenyl‐2,2,6‐trimethyloxan‐3‐ol (pyranoid linalool oxide, pyrLOX), and acetic acid (AA) has been used in apple and pear crops to reduce levels of fruit injury caused by CM up to 60% (Knight et al, 2022; Preti, Knight, Mujica, et al, 2021). This multi‐component lure can outperform sex pheromone lures and catches a high proportion of female moths (Knight, Mujica, Herrera, & Tasin, 2019; Knight, Mujica, Larsson Herrera, & Tasin, 2019).…”

Combining female removal with mating disruption for management of Cydia pomonella in apple

“…We hypothesized that the use of a more attractive, and long-lasting lure placed in low-maintenance bucket traps could significantly improve the efficacy and/or reduce the cost of grower implementation of FR. Studies were conducted in both Italy and USA with FR in 17 organic pear, Pyrus communis L., blocks treated with or without MD during 2019-2020 (Preti et al 2021b). Fruit injury from codling moth was significantly reduced with the implementation of FR in both pear production regions.…”