Behavior and Control of the Peachtree Borer and Lesser Peachtree Borer (Lepidoptera: Sesiidae) in Peach Orchards Permeated with (Z,Z)-3, 13-Octadecadien-1-ol Acetate

Abstract

The pheromone (Z,Z)-3,13-octadecadien-1-olacetate, when applied in peach orchards, reduced captures of lesser peachtree borer, Synanthedon pictipes (Grote and Robinson), males by 99.3% and peachtree borer, S. exitiosa (Say), males by 100% in traps baited with their respective pheromones. In the permeated orchards, mating of peachtree borer females was prevented in low, moderate, and highly infested orchards, but mating of lesser peachtree borer females was prevented only in low and moderately infested orchards. In an isolated treated peach orchard, 21 of 22 wild peachtree borer females captured were unmated, but in other semiisolated treated orchards, many mated females were also collected. Damage counts were not recorded in the isolated orchard; in the semiisolated orchards, no decreases in damage were noted. The pheromone, therefore, protected orchards by preventing mating of peachtree borer females that emerged from within the orchard, but had no effect on immigrating females. The pheromone depressed or delayed mating of lesser peachtree borers in an orchard with a high population but it appears unacceptable for control. In most situations, the pheromone will not provide enough control of the peachtree borer or suppression of the lesser peachtree borer unless there is sufficient isolation from other infested orchards, or unless a large area, including wild hosts, is treated.