Scope to Maximise Rice Yellow Stem Borer Moth Catch in Delta Type Pheromone Traps

Raga Palanisamy Soundararajan,Srinivasan Sithanantham,Narayanan Muthukrishnan,Gnanadas Preetha,Mannarsamy Prabakaran,Amirtharaaj Vijayashanthi,Kunchithapatham Ramaraju

doi:10.11648/j.aje.20200404.11

Abstract

The yellow stem borer (YSB), Scirpophaga incertulas (Walker), is a major pest of rice in Asia and pheromone trapping technology is emerging as a promising eco-friendly IPM tool for more sustainably managing this pest. To identify more efficient trap design so to maximize the efficiency of attracting and retaining the male moths in pheromone-based trapping system, a common methodology-based network study was taken up to compare the moth catches in alternative sex pheromone-baited Delta traps of varying attributes versus the commonly used Funnel (sleeve) trap at three major rice growing locations (Coimbatore, Tirurkuppam, Tirupathisaram) in Tamil Nadu, India within the same season during 2017-18. The results from the concurrent six week trap catch studies clarified that two superior Delta trap variants caught significantly more YSB moths than the funnel trap at all three locations. The moth catches were about 4-5 times greater in the normal size Delta trap (32x20x11cm) compared the Funnel traps, while even the smaller size Delta trap (22x12x7.5cm) caught nearly 2 times more moths than Funnel traps. The attribute of additional vents on the side roof of Delta traps was found to enhance the moth catch in Delta trap significantly. The relative moth catches among the five Delta trap variants versus Funnel trap at each location are also illustrated, along with results of pooled analysis over the locations, which confirmed the consistent superiority of Delta trap versions and the extra benefit from additional vents as trap attributes in enhancing the moth catches. The present results have shown the scope to enhance the impact potential of the improved Delta trap designs in monitoring and mass-trapping of YSB. The need for future population ecology R&D in linking the use of such improved Delta trap versions to fine-tuning the local action thresholds which are based on trap catches by relating to trapping efficiency as a factor is indicated.

Highlights

Yellow stem borer (YSB), Scirpophaga incertulas (Walker) (Crambidae: Lepidoptera) is a major insect pest in all rice growing regions of Asia [1] and reckoned as the prime devastating rice pest causing 10-60 percent loss across India [2]
The present study was undertaken collaboratively to evaluate five Delta trap variants compared with Funnel trap for YSB moth catches in three rice growing regions of Tamil Nadu, India
The present network study has demonstrated the potential for enhancing the YSB moth catches, based on the significant and consistent superiority of Delta trap variants compared to the hitherto commonly used Funnel traps

Summary

Introduction

Yellow stem borer (YSB), Scirpophaga incertulas (Walker) (Crambidae: Lepidoptera) is a major insect pest in all rice growing regions of Asia [1] and reckoned as the prime devastating rice pest causing 10-60 percent loss across India [2]. Raga Palanisamy Soundararajan et al.: Scope to Maximise Rice Yellow Stem Borer Moth Catch in. Delta Type Pheromone Traps based mass trapping of YSB as a promising component of IPM in India has been well recognized [14,15,16,17]. In the Tamil Nadu state of India, studies on YSB have been made on the seasonality on YSB [18], whereas the testing of alternative pheromone trap designs to the locally adopted Funnel traps has not been taken up. The present study was undertaken collaboratively to evaluate five Delta trap variants compared with Funnel trap for YSB moth catches in three rice growing regions of Tamil Nadu, India

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Results

Discussion

Conclusion