Phytoparasitica (2002) 30, 209-210

Tetsu Ando (2002)
Mating disruption of the Japanese giant looper in tea gardens permeated with synthetic pheromone and related compounds
Phytoparasitica 30 (2), 209-210
2nd Israel - Japan Workshop - Ecologically Sound New Plant Protection Technologies, Sept. 1 - 6, 2001, Tokyo, Japan
Abstract: In Japan, new pest management techniques without insecticides are a much desired goal, particularly for defoliators in tea gardens. In 1983, a product named Hamaki-con, a polyethylene tube containing (Z)-11-tetradecenyl acetate, was registered. This compound is a common component of the sex pheromones of both species. 'Hamaki-con" has been used to keep these species at a low population level mainly in the Shizuoka, Mie, and Kumamoto prefectures in Japan. The Japanese giant looper (mugwort looper, Ascotis selenaria cretacea Butler, Geometridae: Ennominae) is another lepidopterous species which seriously damages tea leaves. The females produce racemic (Z,Z)-6,9-cis-3,4-epoxynona-decadiene (epo3,Z6,Z9-19:H, main component) and (Z,Z,Z)-3,6,9-nonadecatriene (Z3,Z6,Z9-19:H, minor component). The orientation of the males to the synthetic pheromone placed in a trap was strongly disrupted by Z3,Z,Z9-19:H or a mixture of its monoepoxy derivatives (epoxydiene mixture, EDM) impregnated in septa and placed around the trap. Based on this result, polyethylene tubes containing Z3,Z6,Z9-19:H or EDM were prepared and the effect of these dispensers was examined in the field. Disruption of male orientation to synthetic pheromone traps was achieved in orchards permeated with Z3,Z6,Z9-19:H at a dispenser density of 3000 and 5000 tubes ha^-1 (release rate: 0.55-0.61 mg day^-1 tube^-1) and with EDM at every tested dose, 250-5000 tubes ha^-1 (release rate: 0.25-0.39 mg day^-1 tube^-1). Furthermore, disruption of mating in tethered females was observed in these orchards; mating was completely inhibited in the areas treated with EDM at 3000 and 5000 tubes ha^-1. This is the first formulation for the mating disruption of a geometrid pest.
(The abstract is excluded from the Creative Commons licence and has been copied with permission by the publisher.)
Database assignments for author(s): Tetsu Ando

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.
	Ascotis selenaria	Tea (Camellia sinensis)	Japan