Recent Advances in Management by Pheromones of Thaumetopoea Moths in Urban Parks and Woodland Recreational Areas.

Pasquale Trematerra,Marco Colacci

doi:10.3390/insects10110395

Abstract

Caterpillars of the pine processionary moths, Thaumetopoea complex, cause serious defoliation to Cedrus, Pinus, and Pseudotsuga trees. Thaumetopoea caterpillars also have fine hairs on their abdominal tergites that contain a protein that can severely irritate and cause dermatitis in humans and domestic animals. The control of the T. pityocampa pine processionary moth has become necessary in many European countries because of the sanitary risks that are related to larval urtication and the defoliation threat to pine forests and plantations. New research activities have been aimed at the development of eco-friendly, innovative technologies for Integrated Pest Management (IPM) of these moths, particularly in urban parks and woodland recreational areas. This paper describes the recent advances in the use of pheromones in monitoring, mass trapping, and mating disruption related to management of processionary moths T. hellenica and T. pityocampa. According to the results, the use of pheromones may provide a practical alternative to insecticide sprays, as they can be safe and simple as compared to other control methods.

Highlights

The pine processionary moths, Thaumetopoea complex, are considered to be the most important insect defoliator of Cedrus, Pinus, and Pseudotsuga forests and woodlands in central-southern Europe and North Africa in terms of their geographic range and socioeconomic impact [1,2]
We report a review on the recent results that were obtained in the use of pheromones for monitoring, mass trapping, and mating disruption of Thaumetopoea complex [8,10,11,12,13,14,15,16,17]
Porta Coeli, Spain, the flight of T. pityocampa was initiated in early July and lasted until mid-September, but the vast majority of adults were trapped between late August and early September

Summary

Introduction

The pine processionary moths, Thaumetopoea complex, are considered to be the most important insect defoliator of Cedrus, Pinus, and Pseudotsuga forests and woodlands in central-southern Europe and North Africa in terms of their geographic range and socioeconomic impact [1,2]. The most effective strategy for the control of these moths involves a combination of preventive techniques, such as planting policies and methods for early detection, and curative methods such as trapping of adults and larvae, elimination of winter nests, and the application of insecticides. These methods may provide insufficient levels of control or endanger the health of human and domestic animals, in urban parks and recreational suburban areas. We report a review on the recent results that were obtained in the use of pheromones for monitoring, mass trapping, and mating disruption of Thaumetopoea complex [8,10,11,12,13,14,15,16,17]

Monitoring

Experiments of Mass Trapping

Experiments of Mating Disruption

Findings

Conclusions