Phytoparasitica (1998) 26 (2) - The use of pheromones in ...

G. Forer (1998)
The use of pheromones in Israel's cotton fields
Phytoparasitica 26 (2)
12th Conference of the Entomological Society of Israel, Innovations in Pheromone Research and Application in Israel, March 3, 1998, Bet Dagan, Israel
Abstract: Within the framework of efforts to reduce the application of poisonous pesticides in cotton fields in Israel, much use has been made of pheromones for monitoring and control of key pests. Since the 1970s, pheromone traps have been employed to monitor the pink bollworm (PBW; Pectinophora gossypiella) in Israel's cotton fields. The threshold established for insecticide treatments is still in use as the main means for determining spray timing. Concurrently, pheromone traps have been used in an attempt to monitor populations of Earias insulana, the cotton bollworm (Helicoverpa (Heliothis) armigera), the cotton worm (Spodoptera littoralis) and the tomato looper (Chrysodeixis chalcytes) in cotton fields. These traps did not always provide a good correlation between the catches and the actual infestation in the field. However, the method still greatly improved the ability of the growers to determine optimum timing for spraying, as compared with previous methods. In the mid 1970s the use of pheromone traps for mass trapping of S. littoralis and PBW was implemented in Bet She'an Valley cotton fields. The traps were tested over thousands of hectares, but their use was discontinued in the early 1980s because of difficulties in proving any benefits. The use of pheromones for mating disruption was begun experimentally in the mid 1980s, in an attempt to reduce the PBW populations in an environmentally friendly way, and to eliminate the use of highly toxic insecticides during the first half of the cotton growing season. Several formulations were tested and two of them (Sandoz's 'Nomate PBW' and Agrisense's 'Decoy') were employed commercially for several years. The results were usually satisfactory, but the need to repeat the applications bi-weekly was problematic, because of the gaps between the effective coverage periods in different fields in the same area. These gaps enabled the pest to build up populations that became too high to be controlled by this method. In the early 1990s we introduced hand-tied formulations (Shin-Etsu's 'PBW Ropes' and Agrisense's 'Ring dispensers') which had the advantage of a longlasting effect. Since then mating disruption of PBW has been applied throughout Israel's cotton growing areas. At present the method is employed in approximately 45% of the cotton fields (~13,500 ha). Employing pheromones for PBWmating disruption enables the Israeli cotton growers to avoid almost completely the application of toxic insecticides during the first half of the growing season and thus permits the beneficial insects to keep other pest populations below threshold levels. This has contributed greatly to reducing the average number of insecticide applications from 16.2 in 1986 to 5.4 in 1997. During the last few years the Cotton Board and researchers at the Dept. of Entomology of The Volcani Center, ARO, have been working on the possibility of employing H. armigera and E. insulana pheromones in order to achieve a cost effective mating disruption program.
(The abstract is excluded from the Creative Commons licence and has been copied with permission by the publisher.)

Research topic(s) for pests/diseases/weeds:
pheromones/attractants/traps
surveys/sampling/distribution

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Pest and/or beneficial records:

Beneficial	Pest/Disease/Weed	Crop/Product	Country	Quarant.
	Helicoverpa armigera	Cotton (Gossypium)	Israel
	Spodoptera littoralis	Cotton (Gossypium)	Israel
	Chrysodeixis chalcites	Cotton (Gossypium)	Israel
	Pectinophora gossypiella	Cotton (Gossypium)	Israel
	Earias insulana	Cotton (Gossypium)	Israel