Overwintering of codling moth (Lepidoptera: Tortricidae) larvae in apple harvest bins and subsequent moth emergence.

Abstract

Codling moths, Cydia pomonella (L.), have long been suspected of emerging from stacks of harvest bins in the spring and causing damage to nearby apple and pear orchards. With increased use of mating disruption for codling moth control, outside sources of infestation have become more of a concern for growers using pheromone based mating disruption systems. Studies were designed to provide information on bins as a source of codling moth and the pattern of codling moth emergence from stacks of bins. In these studies, codling moth larvae colonized wood harvest bins at a much higher frequency than harvest bins made of injection molded plastic (189 moths emerged from wood compared with five from plastic). There was no statistical difference in the number of moths infesting bins that had been filled with infested fruit compared with bins left empty at harvest. This suggests that codling moth enter the bins during the time that the bins are in the orchard before harvest. Emergence of laboratory reared adult codling moth from wood bins placed in stacks was found to be prolonged compared with field populations. Temperature differences within the bin stacks accounted for this attenuated emergence pattern. Covering bin stacks with clear plastic accelerated codling moth development in the upper levels of the stack. Codling moth emergence patterns from plastic-covered stacks more closely coincided with male flight in field populations. This information could be important in developing a technique for neutralizing codling moth-infested bins, and in understanding how infested bins may influence pest management in fruit orchards that are located near bin piles. Implications for control of codling moth in conventional orchards and in those using mating disruption as the principal component of an integrated pest management system include increased numbers of treatments directed at areas affected by infested bins.