Sugar-Acetic Acid-Ethanol-Water Mixture as a Potent Attractant for Trapping the Oriental Fruit Moth (Lepidoptera: Tortricidae) in Peach-Apple Mixed-Planting Orchards.

Zhai Zhai,Wang Wang,Ma Ma,Yu Yu,Zhang Zhang

doi:10.3390/plants8100401

Abstract

Sugar–acetic acid–ethanol–water mixture (SAEWM) trapping has initially shown the potential efficacy for monitoring or trapping insects. It is unknown how SAEWM-baited traps affect field number of oriental fruit moth (OFM), Grapholita molesta (Busck) (Lepidoptera: Tortricidae), the female/male ratio trapped, and the type of natural-enemy insects captured. This study investigated changes in seasonal population dynamics and diurnal flight rhythm of OFM, the number and female/male ratio of OFM and the numbers of Coccinellidae and Chrysopidae trapped by SAEWM in peach–apple mixed-planting orchards. The SAEWM performed well in trapping OFM, most of which were adult females, with the maximum trapping at 2.5 m above ground. The daily trapping peak occurred between 18:00 and 20:00, during each continuous monitoring period, with another peak occurring at 4:00–8:00, after the second monitoring period (2–5 July). However, the use of SAEWM also resulted in the trapping of Coccinellidae and Chrysopidae, of which peak trapping time partially overlapped with the second and third peak trapping times of OFM. We suggest the cessation of SAEWM trapping during the peak activity time of Coccinellidae and Chrysopidae, or application of alternative attractive mixture that do not trap the natural enemy insects, in order to protect the ecological balance in the field.

Highlights

The oriental fruit moth (OFM), Grapholita molesta (Busck) (Lepidoptera: Tortricidae) is a notorious pest present in most of the fruit-producing areas worldwide and can damage the tender shoots and fruits of many fruit trees, including peach, apple, pear, plum, and cherry trees [1,2]
The total number of moths trapped by the Sugar–acetic acid–ethanol–water mixture (SAEWM)-baited traps was less than that by the sex-pheromone-baited traps
The results of our study showed that SAEWM and sex-pheromone traps are consistent and useful for accurately monitoring the occurrence of moths in the field based on the number of adult

Summary

Introduction

The oriental fruit moth (OFM), Grapholita molesta (Busck) (Lepidoptera: Tortricidae) is a notorious pest present in most of the fruit-producing areas worldwide and can damage the tender shoots and fruits of many fruit trees, including peach, apple, pear, plum, and cherry trees [1,2]. OFM typically switch plant parts and hosts seasonally, primarily damaging shoots in peach orchards from spring to early summer and boring into fruits in apple and pear orchards from late summer to autumn in China, which is a major cause of severe infestations by OFM in mixed-planting orchards [3,4]. Only males of OFM are attracted by sex pheromones [12]; males are polygamous and dispersal of mated females is a major contributor to switching between hosts, which increases damage across seasons and crops [1,13]; the strategy of luring females would be more effective to limit moth populations than sex-pheromone-based techniques. Sugar–acetic acid–ethanol–water mixture (SAEWM) as a food attractant is a pollution-free approach which can be utilized in a variety of traps made with simple and readily accessible materials

Objectives

Methods

Results

Discussion

Conclusion