Mating disruption method against the vine mealybug, Planococcus ficus: effect of sequential treatment on infested vines

Abstract

The vine mealybug, Planococcus ficus (Signoret) (Hemiptera: Pseudococcidae), is a major pest of vineyards. Here, we tested the efficacy of the mating disruption method against the pest when applied during one or two successive years in high and low infestation levels. Following 1 year of treatment, at low initial infestation levels a shutdown of pheromone traps was observed, along with a significant reduction in infested vines. With initially high infestation levels, a gradual reduction in infested vines was observed, with a trap shutdown seen only after the second year of pheromone application. We discuss the implications of the male mating disruption method for this pest in which the wingless females are aggregated with limited movement among vines, offering multiple mating opportunities for the flying male.

Influence of mating disruption on the reproductive biology of the vine mealybug, Planococcus ficus (Hemiptera: Pseudococcidae), under field conditions

“…Overall, the percentage of ovipositing females was reduced by mating disruption in all three years, confirming the findings of previous studies on the effectiveness of mating disruption to control P. ficus populations which demonstrated a disruption of sexual communication and a reduction in pest density . Interestingly, no ovipositing females were observed in autumn in either of the mating disruption treatments in 2014 and in MD2 plots in 2015, thus indicating a season‐long efficacy of mating disruption.…”

“…The spread of mealybugs is extremely slow and mainly via active (walking) and passive (wind) dispersal of crawlers . This indicates that mating disruption to control the vine mealybug could also be successfully applied in small vineyards, confirming the findings of previous field trials in which good results were found in vineyards 0.5–2.5 ha wide . Similarly, this control strategy was effective in small citrus orchards against wingless California red scale, Aonidiella aurantii (Maskell) (Hemiptera: Diaspididae) …”

“…Overall, our results suggest the concentration of 90 g ha −1 of a.i. as the optimal pheromone load in mating disruption control programs, as found in previous studies …”

“…The reduction in the percentage of mated overwintering females as a result of mating disruption in three consecutive years significantly reduced the population density of P. ficus . Sharon et al . also observed a reduction of the vine mealybug population density in highly infested vineyards after two consecutive years of mating disruption, although comparisons between untreated and disrupted plots were made only in the second year and no information on the infestation patterns was provided.…”

“…This has led to a more widespread use of environmentally friendly control strategies, including mating disruption, which has been increasingly used as there have been no reports of any detrimental effects on beneficial organisms or risks of insecticide resistance , . Since its identification, the vine mealybug sex pheromone has been used in monitoring programs and tested in mating disruption control programs in the USA, Argentina and the Mediterranean Basin …”