The feasibility of synthetic sex pheromone as a communication disruption agent for the control of the beet armyworm, Spodoptera exigua (Hübner), was examined by dispensing a 7:3 mixture of (Z,E)-9, 12-tetradecadienyl acetate and (Z)-9-tetradecen-1-o1. When this mixture was dispensed into a 155 ha field, the attraction of male moths to sex pheromone traps was completely inhibited, while the dens...

The use of sex pheromones as an option to control wireworms via mass trapping and the biology of Agriotes lineatus (L.) were investigated in a long-term field experiment at an organic research farm in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. Plots supplied with sex pheromone traps were compared with untreated control plots. Over 5 years, a total of 12,378 male adults of A. lineatus, Agriotes obscurus (...

A simple molecular tool was developed and tested to identify seven mealybug species found in North American vineyards: Pseudococcus maritimus Ehrhorn, Pseudococcus viburni (Signoret), Pseudococcus longispinus (Targioni-Tozzeti), Pseudococcus calceolariae (Maskell), Planococcus ficus (Signoret), Planococcus citri (Risso), and Ferrisia gilli Gullan. The developed multiplex PCR is based on themito...

Pheromone-baited traps have been widely used in integrated pest management programs, but their economic value for growers has never been reported.  We analyzed the economic benefits of long-term use of traps baited with the citrus fruit borer Gymnandrosoma aurantianum sex pheromone in Central-Southern Brazil. Our analysis show that from 2001 to 2013 citrus growers avoided accumulated pest losse...

The numbers of Ips typographus beetles captured in treated tripod trap logs (tripods) were compared to catches from Theysohn pheromone traps (TPTs). In 2010, at each of the three localities, five TPTs and five tripods baited with Pheagr IT pheromone evaporators were installed with 10 m spacing. Weekly inspections were made during the entire period of I. typographus flight activity (April 30 – O...

Controlling pest insects is a challenge of main importance to preserve crop production. In the context of Integrated Pest Management (IPM) programs, we develop a generic model to study the impact of mating disruption control using an artificial female pheromone to confuse males and adversely affect their mating opportunities. Consequently the reproduction rate is diminished leading to a decline...

Biological invasions can cause major ecological and economic impacts. During the early stages of invasions, eradication is desirable but tactics are lacking that are both effective and have minimal non-target effects. Mating disruption, which may meet these criteria, was initially chosen to respond to the incursion of light brown apple moth, Epiphyas postvittana (LBAM; Lepidoptera: Tortricidae)...

Sweetpotato, commercially grown in over 100 countries, is one of the ten most important staple crops in the world. Sweetpotato weevil is a major pest of sweetpotato in most areas of cultivation, the feeding of which induces production in the sweetpotato root of extremely bitter tasting and toxic sesquiterpenes which can render the sweetpotato unfit for consumption. A significant step towards im...

L. Schaub1, L. Furlan2, M. Tóth3, T. Steinger1, L. R. Carrasco4 and S. Toepfer5 1Agroscope Changins-Wädenswil ACW, CP 254, 1260 Nyon (Switzerland); e-mail: [email protected] 2Veneto Agricoltura, Legnaro (Italy) 3Plant Protection Institute, Hungarian Academy of Sciences, Budapest (Hungary) 4Department of Statistics and Applied Probability, National University of Singapore (Singapore) 5CA...

The pine sawfly Diprion jingyuanensis Xiao and Zhang (Hymenoptera: Diprionidae) is a serious pest of Pinus tabulaeformis Carr. in the Shanxi, Gansu, Inner Mongolia provinces P. R. China. sex pheromone D. was shown to be propionate ester 3,7-dimethyl-2-tridecanol. Virgin females contained an approximate 1:3 blend precursors erythro-(2S,3S,7R/S 2R,3R,7R/S)-3,7-dimethyl-2-tridecanol threo-(2S,3R,7...