Field Attraction of Codling Moths (Lepidoptera: Tortricidae) to Apple and Pear Fruit, and Quantitation of Kairomones from Attractive Fruit

Abstract

Abstract Male and female codling moths, Cydia pomonella (L.) (Lepidoptera: Tortricidae) responded to fruit-baited traps in orchards. Numbers of codling moths trapped with immature uninfested apples (Malus spp.), immature apples infested with larval codling moth, fresh ripe apples, stored ripe apples, or fresh ripe pears (Pyrus spp.) were significantly greater than in unbaited traps. Greatest numbers of codling moths were captured in traps baited with ripe ‘Bartlett’ pears, but direct comparisons of these fruit types were not made. Females captured in traps baited with ripe apples or pears were primarily mated and had developing or mature eggs, and smaller numbers of females trapped were unmated without eggs or were postreproductive. Volatile compounds sampled from infested immature ‘Red Delicious’ apples that were attractive in traps showed emission of two known codling moth host kairomones: (E,E)-α-farnesene as well as small amounts of β-caryophyllene. Collections of volatile chemicals from ripe ‘Braebur...