Environmental Entomology (1991) 20, 930-934

Donn T. Johnson, Barbara A. Lewis and J. Wendell Snow (1991)
Control of grape root borer (Lepidoptera: Sesiidae) by mating disruption with two synthetic sex pheromone compounds
Environmental Entomology 20 (3), 930-934
Abstract: The pheromone (E,Z)-2,13-octadecadien-1 of acetate [called (E,Z)-2,13-ODDA] or (Z,Z)-3,13-octadecadien-1 of acetate [called (Z,Z)-3,13-ODDA; the main component of the peachtree borer, Synanthedon exitiosa (Say), sex pheromone and mating disruption dispenser] was released into the air from Shin-Etsu ropes (254 per hectare [100 per acre]) in whole bunch grape vineyards and compared with untreated vineyards using a randomized block design (four replicates). Pherocon IC traps baited with a 99:1 blend of (E,Z)-2,13-ODDA:(Z,Z)-3,13-ODDA were used to monitor the seasonal number of grape root borer males, Vitacea polistiformis (Harris). These trap captures were significantly reduced by 99.1 and 87.5% in the vineyards treated with (E,Z)-2,13-ODDA and (Z,Z)-3,13-ODDA, respectively, compared with the untreated vineyard mean capture of 134.0 males. The (Z,Z)-3,13-ODDA-treated vineyards realized a mean grape root borer pupal skin reduction of 92.7% over a 2-yr period (life cycle), which was significantly different than the mean count from the untreated vineyards (17.2% increase). The mean pupal skin count reduction of 65.7% from the (E,Z)-2,13-ODDA-treated vineyards was not significantly different from either the (Z,Z)-3,13-ODDA-treated or untreated vineyards. This lower mean reduction was attributed to only one (E,Z)-2,13-ODDA-treated vineyard that probably experienced immigration of mated feral females from an untreated vineyard 200 m to the southwest. It appears that placement of 254 ties per hectare per season of either compound alone in isolated vineyards with a low to moderate population of grape root borers may be an effective and environmentally safe alternative to insecticide treatments for control of the grape root borer.
(The abstract is excluded from the Creative Commons licence and has been copied with permission by the publisher.)
Database assignments for author(s): Donn T. Johnson

Research topic(s) for pests/diseases/weeds:
pheromones/attractants/traps
control - general

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Pest and/or beneficial records:

Beneficial	Pest/Disease/Weed	Crop/Product	Country	Quarant.
	Vitacea polistiformis		U.S.A. (SE)