Monitoring and Temperature-Based Prediction of the Whitemarked Tussock Moth (Lepidoptera: Lymantriidae) in Blueberry

Abstract

Larvae of the whitemarked tussock moth, Orgyia leucostigma (J.E. Smith) (Lepidoptera: Lymantriidae), defoliate and contaminate blueberries, Vaccinium corymbosum L., in eastern North America, but infestations are often not detected until economic damage has been caused. To improve monitoring techniques and understand the phenology of the whitemarked tussock moth in blueberry, we compared four trap types and determined temperature-based phenology of this pest over two growing seasons. Large delta traps captured the greatest number of male moths, and similar moth captures were found with or without monthly lure changing. Traps placed at field perimeters adjacent to woods trapped significantly more moths than those inside fields, whereas position in the canopy (high versus low) did not affect captures. Under laboratory conditions, the lower developmental threshold for larvae was 12.3 degrees C, in close agreement with field studies indicating a 12.8 degrees C threshold. Using the 12.8 degrees C threshold, monitoring of O. leucostigma cohorts on caged blueberry plants revealed a spring generation with egg hatch starting at 206 +/- 3 growing degree-days (GDD) and a late-summer generation with egg hatch starting at 1,157 +/- 52 GDD. Combined use of optimized monitoring methods and the phenology model for O. leucostigma is expected to improve integrated management of this pest in blueberry.

Larval diet prior to and following virus ingestion influences the efficacy of two nucleopolyhedroviruses in whitemarked tussock moth (Orgyia leucostigma) caterpillars

“…WMTMs feed on a wide variety of coniferous and deciduous vegetation (Martineau 1984; Rose and Lindquist 1997). As newly emerged WMTM larvae often feed on young foliage before “ballooning” to another host plant (Isaacs and van Timmeren 2009) and are capable of moving among hosts (Embree et al 1984), their nutrition prior to and following NPV application could negatively influence viral efficacy. For instance, WMTM larvae that initially feed on deciduous vegetation surrounding a balsam fir plantation before dispersing inward may be more resistant to a NPV spray than larvae that fed solely on balsam fir.…”

Perspective Chapter: Pheromone-Based Techniques in Sustainable Pest Management

“…The benefits of pheromone-based monitoring include affordability, specificity to certain species, and user-friendliness. However, the success of the process also depends on crucial factors such as the rate of pheromone release, the trap's design, its color, and the strategic placement of the traps [42,48,[52][53][54][55][56][57][58][59]. In the population monitoring technique, to monitor Conotrachelus nenuphar (Coleoptera: Curculionidae) apple trees were baited with grandisonic acid (aggregation pheromone) and benzaldehyde (synthetic fruit volatile) to attract curculio adults.…”