It looks like the last generation of Cydia pomonella in apple crop (the third one in France), react poorly to mating disruption with pheromone stick. Experiments show that the two first generation are kept low with the stick, but those one seems to be less effective at the end of the season. Is it possible that the last generation of the moth is using a different pheromone blend for sexual attraction ? Could it be some kind of resistance ? Does anyone notice the same behaviour in apple crop ?
yes in some Catocala spp the attaction is only one season than moth overwinter. Unfortunately at this moment is difficukt to find the reference, sorry
Don't know what pheromone product you are using Julien, but after 25+ years working with pheromone mating disruption in tree fruit for many pests, including codling moth, I would say no the pheromone stays the same, but the products you are testing may vary from year to year (poor quality control in some companies) or the weather conditions could be affecting the performance of the product. Hot, dry summers tend to volatilize out the pheromone from the dispenser, much more quickly than on a cooler, humid year. Many codling moth pheromone products struggle to last long enough to control the 2nd and partial third generation of codling moth in Pennsylvania. The longest lasting pheromone products we have tested have the Isomate pheromone ties from CBC America.
Thanks for your answers.
My first hypothesis was about the quality of the products, and the releasing of the pheromone which could be finish before the end of the season, but the leader of the experiment confirmed that the product was in enough quality and quantity. He just think that the third generation of codling moth have a different behaviour about the pheromone, but never heard (or read) anything about this phenomenon. We will follow this closely next season...
I am not sure about the situation in your country, but more to the north we noted change of sex ratio towards the end of flight period. The proportion of females increases. Thus, more abundant "natural peheromone sources" might more successfully compete with synthetic pheromone, and catches in pheromone traps might decrease...
- Badges
- Science topic
- Similar topics
- Invertebrate Zoology
- Entomology
- Insect
- Neoptera
- Holometabola
- Moths