Journal of Applied Entomology (2010) 134, 201-206

S. Bloem, J.E. Carpenter, T.L. Blomefield and C. Harrison (2010)
Compatibility of codling moths Cydia pomonella (Linnaeus) (Lepidoptera: Tortricidae) from South Africa with codling moths shipped from Canada
Journal of Applied Entomology 134 (3), 201-206
Abstract: The sterile insect technique (SIT) has been successfully applied against codling moth Cydia pomonella (Linnaeus) (Lepidoptera; Tortricidae) in British Columbia since 1992 where the mass-rearing facility produces between 15 and 16 million moths per week. Due to the seasonality of this pest, the facility is only fully utilized for part of the year. The time and expense of implementing SIT against codling moth in South Africa may be substantially reduced if moths from Canada were sexually compatible with those from South Africa. In addition, because the pome fruit-growing season in both countries is opposite, the programme in Canada might benefit by maintaining moth production year-round and selling moths to South Africa. Semi-field studies in small cages and release-recapture studies were conducted in an unsprayed apple orchard in South Africa to assess mating compatibility of laboratory-reared codling moth from Canada and wild codling moths from South Africa. The results suggest that Canadian codling moth males were equally attracted to calling Canadian and South African females despite the fact that Canadian moths had been transported (from Canada to South Africa) for 48 h as both pupae and adults. The data also suggest that at lower field temperatures Canadian moths were more active than South African moths. Results from the release-recapture field trials indicated that Canadian and South African males were equally attracted to Canadian and South African females. These results suggest that codling moths from Canada and South Africa are fully compatible and indicate that Canadian moths can be used for SIT studies in South Africa. As these studies were conducted with moths from two very different climatic and time zones, it is proposed that populations of codling moth in other pome fruit production areas may also be compatible with the Canadian moths.
(The abstract is excluded from the Creative Commons licence and has been copied with permission by the publisher.)
Link to article at publishers website
Database assignments for author(s): James E. Carpenter, Thomas L. Blomefield

Research topic(s) for pests/diseases/weeds:
general biology - morphology - evolution
control - general

---

Pest and/or beneficial records:

Beneficial	Pest/Disease/Weed	Crop/Product	Country	Quarant.
	Cydia pomonella		South Africa
	Cydia pomonella		Canada (west)