Assessment of methoxyfenozide exposure on the sexual attractiveness and responsiveness of adult codling moth, Cydia pomonella L., in small orchard blocks

Abstract

The sexual attractiveness of female and the responsiveness of male codling moth, Cydia pomonella L., exposed to surfaces treated with the ecdysteroid agonist methoxyfenozide were investigated in small orchard block experiments. The main purpose of the study was to determine whether the reported sublethal effects of methoxyfenozide affecting moth behavior also occur under field conditions. Data from the first experiment showed that in some trials untreated females were significantly more attractive to wild males than methoxyfenozide-treated females. The second experiment revealed that some released methoxyfenozide-treated males were not as responsive to calling females as untreated males, and that some untreated females were more attractive to males than methoxyfenozide-treated females. The third experiment revealed that wild males exposed to treated tree surfaces were significantly less responsive to traps than were wild males exposed to untreated trees. However, there were no significant differences in mean recaptures of released males between the untreated and treated orchard blocks. Exposure of adult C. pomonella to methoxyfenozide-treated surfaces resulted in a negative impact on male responsiveness to calling females and synthetic pheromone lures. However, the level of impact on the sexual attractiveness of treated females did not appear to be as explicit.