Monitoring oriental fruit moth (Lepidoptera: Tortricidae) with sticky traps baited with terpinyl acetate and sex pheromone

Abstract

Studies in Argentina and Chile during 20102011 evaluated a new trap (Ajar) for monitoring the oriental fruit moth, Grapholita molesta (Busck). The Ajar trap was delta-shaped with a jar filled with a terpinyl acetate plus brown sugar bait attached to the bottom centre of the trap. The screened lid of the jar was inserted inside the trap, and moths were caught on a sticky insert surrounding the lid. The Ajar trap was evaluated with and without the addition of a sex pheromone lure and compared with delta traps left unbaited or baited with a sex pheromone lure and a bucket trap filled with the same liquid bait. Studies were conducted in a sex pheromone-treated orchard in Argentina and an untreated orchard in Chile. In Chile, the Ajar trap without the sex pheromone lure caught significantly fewer males, females and total moths than the bucket trap, and fewer males and more females than the sex pheromone-baited delta trap. Total moth catch did not differ between the Ajar trap without a sex pheromone lure and the sex pheromone-baited trap. Adding a sex pheromone lure to the Ajar trap significantly increased total moth catches to levels not different from those in the bucket trap. However, the Ajar trap with the sex pheromone lure caught significantly more males and fewer females than the bucket trap. In Argentina, the Ajar trap with or without the addition of a sex pheromone lure caught similar numbers of both sexes and total moths as the bucket trap. The sex pheromone-baited delta trap caught <4% of the number of moths as these three traps. The bucket trap in both studies caught significantly more non-targets than the delta and Ajar traps. Moth catches in the Ajar trap declined significantly after 23weeks when the bait was not replaced.