Influences of Pheromone Dispenser and Trap Placement on Trapping Carpenterworm 1 Moths in North Dakota and Mississippi

Abstract

Carpenterworm ( Prionoxystus robiniae Peck) attractant dispensers, trap height, and trap color were evaluated for attractiveness to the male carpenterworm in Mississippi (MS) and North Dakota (ND). The effect of understory density on trap site was also checked. In the humid MS hardwood forest, a standard cotton wick dispenser baited with synthetic sex attractant (Z,E) -3,5 tetradecadien-1-ol acetate was more effective in attracting males than a sheath type dispenser, but in the drier ND environment, it was less effective than a sheath dispenser or any of four other dispensers. Trap catches in MS generally increased with trap height, but in ND, most moths were caught between the tree canopy and the undergrowth. In MS, the capture rate in 1.5 m high traps was not influenced by light or medium understory densities, but heavy understory reduced trap catches. Trap color had no effect on the rate of moths captured.