Monitoring Plum Curculio, Conotrachelus nenuphar (Coleoptera: Curculionidae), Populations in Apple and Peach Orchards in the Mid-Atlantic

Abstract

We evaluated responses of plum curculio, Conotrachelus nenuphar (Herbst), to four trap types in commercial and unsprayed apple and peach orchards. Trap types included black pyramid and clear Plexiglas panel traps deployed outside the orchard 2 m from the border row, and branch-mimicking cylinder and trunk-mounted screen traps attached to trees in the border row. Bait treatments evaluated in conjunction with each trap type included the synthetic fruit volatile benzaldehyde, the aggregation pheromone grandisoic acid (GA), benzaldehyde in combination with GA, and an unbaited control treatment. In commercial apple orchards, significantly more plum curculio were captured in traps baited with benzaldehyde + GA compared with traps baited with other treatments. Furthermore, significantly more plum curculio were captured by screen traps baited with benzaldehyde + GA compared with unbaited control traps. Significantly more plum curculio were captured by screen traps compared with other trap types in an unsprayed apple orchard. Very few captures were recorded in commercial peach orchards. Dissections of trapped females indicate that bivoltine populations are present in the mid-Atlantic. In general, correlations between timing and amount of trap captures and timing and amount of fruit injury inflicted concurrently or 1 wk after trap captures were very weak for all trap types and bait combinations. Our results agree with previous studies in the northeastern United States in which trap captures are increased by presence of semiochemical baits but fail to serve as reliable tools to determine need for and timing of insecticide application against plum curculio.