The effect of aerial applications of the pheromone disparlure at varying dosages on mating disruption in low-density gypsy moth, Lymantria dispar (L.) (Lepidoptera: Lymantriidae), populations was determined in field plots in Virginia, USA during 2000 and 2002. Six dosages [0.15, 0.75, 3, 15, 37.5, and 75 g active ingredient (AI)/ha] of disparlure were tested during the 2-year study. A strongly positive dose-response relationship was observed between pheromone dosages and mating disruption, as measured by the reduction in male moth capture in pheromone-baited traps and mating successes of females. Dosages of pheromone ≥ 15 g AI/ha (15, 37.5, and 75 g AI/ha) reduced the mating success of females by >99% and significantly reduced male moth catches in pheromone-baited traps compared to untreated plots. Pheromone dosages <15 g AI/ha also reduced trap catch, but to a lesser extent than dosages ≥ 15 g AI/ha. Furthermore, the effectiveness of the lower dosage treatments (0.15, 0.75, and 3 g AI/ha) declined over time, so that by the end of the study, male moth catches in traps were significantly lower in plots treated with pheromone dosages ≥ 15 g AI/ha. The dosage of 75 g AI/ ha was initially replaced by a dosage of 37.5 g AI/ha in the USDA Forest Service Slow-the-Spread (STS) of the Gypsy Moth management program, but the program is currently making the transition to a dosage of 15 g AI/ha. These changes in applied dosages have resulted in a reduction in the cost of gypsy moth mating disruption treatments.

In forest plots treated aerially with a plastic laminated flake formulation (Disrupt® II) of the gypsy moth sex pheromone disparlure to disrupt gypsy moth, Lymantria dispar (L.) (Lepidoptera: Lymantriidae), mating was monitored the year of treatment and 1–2 years after treatment to determine the effects of the treatment on suppression of trap catch and mating success. In the year of treatment, there was a greater than 95% reduction in trap catch and a greater than 98% reduction in mating success compared to controls. One year after treatment at a dosage of 37.5 g active ingredient (a.i.) ha−1, trap catch was reduced by 46–56% and mating success was reduced by 60–79%. Both trap catch and mating success were significantly reduced compared to controls in plots treated 1 year previously at 15 g a.i. ha−1. Trap catch, but not mating success, was significantly reduced 2 years after treatment at 37.5 g a.i. ha−1. The efficacy of mating disruption (MD) treatments in the Slow‐the‐Spread of the Gypsy Moth program was significantly reduced 2 years compared to 1 year after treatment. No such reduction was observed in plots treated with aerial applications of Bacillus thuringiensis kurstaki. The higher apparent efficacy of MD treatments 1 year after application may result to some extent from the suppression of moth capture in pheromone traps from the persistent effects of the previous year's treatment.

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The study was conducted during 2001 and 2002 in forested areas in Virginia, US to examine the effects of gaps in coverage of pheromone on gypsy moth, Lymantria dispar (L.) (Lep., Lymantriidae), mating disruption. Gypsy moth male moth catches in pheromone-baited traps were significantly reduced in plots treated with the gypsy moth sex pheromone, disparlure, at an overall application rate of 37.5 g of active ingredient (AI)/ha but with untreated gaps of 30 or 90 m between 30-m wide treated swaths. In one of the two plots with 90 m gaps, significantly more males were captured in traps in the untreated areas compared with the treated areas within the plot. However, in another plot, significant differences in trap catches between treated and untreated areas were not observed. No difference in male moth catches in the pheromone-baited traps was observed between treated and untreated areas within the plots treated with 30 m gaps. Female mating success did not differ significantly between treated and untreated areas within the one plot in which it was measured. These results suggest that it may be possible to lower costs associated with gypsy moth mating disruption applications by alternating treated and untreated swaths, which would reduce flight time and fuel costs, without a reduction in efficacy.

1 Mating disruption is the primary tactic used to reduce rates of gypsy moth population spread in the United States Department of Agriculture's Slow-the-Spread of the gypsy moth programme (STS). Because STS targets very low-density gypsy moth populations within which it is extremely difficult to collect females or egg masses, mating success in native populations cannot be determined. Therefore, the evaluation of mating disruption treatments in field experiments such as those designed to test new formulations and application methods requires deploying and recovering laboratory-reared female moths to determine mating success. 2 Five methods of deploying females were evaluated for cost, rates of female and egg mass recovery, and female mating success. The deployment methods tested were: modified delta trap, square barrier, single and double trunk bands, and tethered females. 3 Deployment of tethered females had the highest cost and mating success rate, but it did not yield the highest rates of female and egg mass recovery. Deployment of females in delta traps produced the lowest cost and mating success rate, but yielded the highest recovery rate. Neither of these deployment methods is recommended because of unacceptably high cost (tethered female) or low mating success (delta trap). 4 There were no significant differences in cost or mating success among the other three deployment methods. 5 The differences among the square barrier, single trunk band, and double trunk band methods in cost, female and egg mass recovery, and mating success are too small to recommend any one over the others.