Sprayable pheromone for controlling the North American grape berry moth by mating disruption

Abstract

1 Sex pheromone-mediated mating disruption can be used to provide economic control of the North American grape berry moth in commercial vineyards. Controlled release devices that use a plastic tube or polymer to regulate the emission of pheromone have been registered for use in Canada for controlling this pest. These dispensers require manual application, whereas a newly developed microencapsulated formulation can be applied using a vineyard airblast sprayer. 2 The efficacy of 3M Sprayable Pheromone was compared with the efficacy of Isomate Ò GBM pheromone dispensers and organophosphorus insecticide for controlling the grape berry moth during the 1997 and 1998 growing seasons. Two application schedules of sprayable pheromone were tested during 1997 and two formulations of sprayable pheromone were tested during 1998. The mating disruption efficiency of the pheromone treatments was compared using pheromone-baited traps and the efficacy of the pheromone and insecticide treatments was compared by inspecting grape clusters for feeding injury caused by grape berry moth larvae. 3 The estimated mating disruption efficiency of the pheromone treatments ranged from 67 to 100%. There was no difference in the efficiency of the two application schedules of 3M Sprayable Pheromone during 1997. The estimated efficiency of Isomate Ò GBM was greater than that of 3M Sprayable Pheromone during the first two flights of 1997. During 1998, the estimated efficiency of 3M Sprayable Pheromone and Isomate Ò GBM was similar. 4 The average percentage of grape clusters with grape berry moth feeding injury was greater in the border than in the interior zone on 13 ocassions, and greater in the interior zone than in the border zone of experimental plots on six of the 72 occasions when clusters were inspected during the 2-year study. 5 The average percentage of grape clusters with feeding injury was similar in plots treated with 3M Sprayable Pheromone, Isomate Ò GBM and insecticide during both years of the study. There was no difference in feeding injury in plots treated with 3M Sprayable Pheromone and Isomate Ò GBM, despite the greater estimated mating disruption efficiency of Isomate Ò GBM. 6 The use of sprayable pheromone may have several operational and cost advantages compared with a hand-applied dispensing system such as Isomate Ò GBM.

Sex Pheromones and Their Impact on Pest Management

“…Season-long field life is a main advantage of hand-applied dispensers. Renewed efforts to develop sprayable formulations is motivated by reduced application cost, either in combination with fungicides in orchards, or for applications on large areas (Leonhardt et al 1990;Weatherston 1990;Trimble et al 2003;Tcheslavskaia et al 2005;Il'ichev et al 2006).…”

Orientational disruption of codling moth, Cydia pomonella (L.) (Lep., Tortricidae), by concentrated formulations of microencapsulated pheromone in flight tunnel assays

“…In addition, codling moth males attracted to clumps of microcapsules may receive sufficient pheromone exposure to induce other disruptive mechanisms such as desensitization. Although levels of disruption can be improved for some species by increasing the amount of active ingredient applied using microencapsulated formulations (Polavarapu et al, 2001;Trimble et al, 2003), this approach increases cost. Our results support the idea that more research is warranted towards development of application methods that concentrate pheromone microcapsules into discrete point sources attractive to males for prolonged periods.…”

“…Recent studies have shown that sprayable, microencapsulated formulations of pheromone successfully disrupt some moth species including the Oriental fruit moth, Grapholita molesta (Busck) (Trimble et al, 2004), the Sparganothis fruitworm, Sparganothis sulfureana (Clemens) (Polavarapu et al, 2001), and the grape berry moth, Endopiza viteana (Clemens) (Trimble et al, 2003). However, results with codling moth control using microencapsulated pheromones have been variable (Knight and Larsen, 2001;Epstein et al, 2003;Knight, 2005).…”

Rainfastness of a Microencapsulated Sex Pheromone Formulation for Codling Moth (Lepidoptera: Tortricidae)

“…Sex pheromone-loaded microcapsules have been used to effectively manage lepidopteran pests of horticultural crops with either frequent application of low rates (Polavarapu et al 2001) or less frequent applications of high rates of sex pheromone (Trimble et al 2003). Determining which strategy is most effective will likely depend on the behavior of the pest, the emission characteristics of the microcapsule, and the deposition and retention of microcapsules within the canopy of the crop.…”