Monitoring Grape Berry Moth (Paralobesia viteana: Lepidoptera) in Commercial Vineyards using a Host Plant Based Synthetic Lure

Abstract

For some Lepidopteran pests, such as the grape berry moth Paralobesia viteana (Clemens), poor correlation between males captured in traps baited with sex pheromone and oviposition activities of female moths has called into question the value of pheromone-based monitoring for these species. As an alternative, we compared the capture of female and male grape berry moth in panel traps baited with synthetic host volatiles with captures of males in pheromone-baited wing traps over two growing seasons in two blocks of grapes in a commercial vineyard in central New York. Lures formulated in hexane to release either 7-component or 13-component host volatile blends captured signiÞcantly more male and female grape berry moth on panel traps compared with the numbers captured on panel traps with hexane-only lures. For both sexes over both years, the same or more moths were captured in panel traps along the forest edge compared with the vineyard edge early in the season but this pattern was reversed by mid-season. Male moths captured in pheromone-baited wing traps also displayed this temporal shift in location. There was a signiÞcant positive correlation between captured males and females on panel traps although not between females captured on panel traps and males captured in pheromone-baited traps for both years suggesting pheromone traps do not accurately reßect either female or male activity. Male moths captured in pheromone traps indicated a large peak early in each season corresponding to Þrst ßight followed by lower and variable numbers that did not clearly indicate second and third ßights. Panel trap data, combining males and females, indicated three distinct ßights, with some overlap between the second and third ßights. Peak numbers of moths captured on panel traps matched well with predictions of a temperature-based phenology model, especially in 2008. Although effective, panel traps baited with synthetic host lures were time consuming to deploy and maintain and captured relatively few moths making them impractical, in the current design, for commercial purposes.

Spotting the invaders: A monitoring system based on plant volatiles to forecast apple fruit moth attacks in apple orchards

“…This allows for local monitoring of the population and opens the possibility of a precise application of biocide only where needed. Both sexes of apple fruit moth were caught in the traps baited with the kairomone, corroborating what has been reported in previous studies (El-Sayed et al 2013; Loeb et al 2011). The average female:male ratio of caught insects in the damage year 2010 was 2:1.…”

“…Since female offspring damage the crop, a monitoring tool capable of catching migrating females upon arrival is of crucial relevance. This represents a large advantage in comparison with traps baited with the female-produced sex-pheromone, where only males are caught (Loeb et al 2011). In addition, since a sex-pheromone trap is capable of attracting male moths from a long distance (i.e.…”

Addition of terpenoids to pear ester plus acetic acid increases catches of codling moth (Lepidoptera: Tortricidae)

“…LOX has been reported from apple juice (Williams, Lewis, & Tucknott, ) and from herbivore‐injured apple foliage (Giacomuzzi et al, ) and had not previously been tested as an attractant for codling moth. However, LOX has been included in attractive blends for two grape tortricid pests, L. botrana (Tasin, Backman, Coracini, Casado, & Ioriatti, ) and Paralobesia viteana (Clemens) (Loeb et al, ), that also included DMNT. While promising, the synergistic effect of LOX achieved in this study needs additional experiments aiming at elucidating the effect of single stereoisomer on behaviour.…”

Sampling procedures and adult sex ratios in spruce budworm

“…Such differences are expected because the two sexes have distinct reproductive interests: for males, primarily increasing the number of mates, and for females, increasing mate quality, probability of mating, achieving an optimal number of copulations, and locating suitable resources for progeny (Parker, 1970;Scott, 1975;Kokko & Rankin, 2006). Males and females may differ, for example, in habitat use (Showers et al, 1976;Elliott, 1977;Tabadkani et al, 2012), dispersal response (Rhainds & Shipp, 2003), vertical flight profile (Byers, 2011), or attraction to light (Feng et al, 2003;Altermatt et al, 2009;Aguiar & Santos, 2010) or chemical baits (Loeb et al, 2011;Knight et al, 2013). In extreme examples, these differences can frustrate attempts to collect one gender or the other (and in the process greatly frustrate the entomologist; e.g., Gibson, 1878).…”

“…The tortrix moths (Lepidoptera: Tortricidae) include extremely important economic pests in agricultural and forest landscapes, and as a consequence their reproductive ecology has been well studied. Sex ratio is an important population parameter because it strongly influences population growth rate and mating probability, and as a result the literature is rich in measurements of tortrix sex ratios for different sampling procedures (e.g., Knight, 2007;Loeb et al, 2011;Wearing et al, 2012;Lu et al, 2012;Knight et al, 2013). This is particularly true for the spruce budworm, Choristoneura fumiferana Clemens, for which assessments of sex ratio include at least 10 distinct sampling procedures (Table 1) that are likely to interact differently with male and female behaviour in determining sex ratio of captured moths.…”