Gypsy moth mating disruption in open landscapes |
| |
Authors: | Ksenia S Onufrieva Kevin W Thorpe rea D Hickman† Donna S Leonard‡ Victor C Mastro§ E Anderson Roberts |
| |
Institution: | Department of Entomology, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, VA 24061, USDA, Agricultural Research Service, Beltsville, MD 20705; , 490 Round Hill Road, Lexington, VA 24450; , USDA, Forest Service, Asheville, NC 28802; and USDA, APHIS, Pest Survey, Detection, and Exclusion Laboratory, Otis ANGB, MA 02542, U.S.A. |
| |
Abstract: | 1 Aerial applications of Disrupt II, a plastic laminated flake formulation containing a racemic form of the gypsy moth sex pheromone, disparlure, achieved > 99% reduction of mating among females on individual, isolated trees surrounded by an area cleared of trees. 2 These results support the use of mating disruption to eradicate isolated gypsy moth populations in open landscapes, such as parks, residential areas and commercial settings. 3 Mating success in both treated and untreated areas varied with the initial distance between males and females. When the initial distance between males and females was < 5 cm in an area receiving a dosage of 37.5 g of racemic disparlure per ha, mating success was reduced by 27% compared with a similar deployment in an untreated area. Mating was eliminated in areas treated at the same dosage when males and females were initially deployed 1 m apart but on separate trees. 4 This suggests that mating disruption may not be an effective tactic for gypsy moth eradication in cases where the infestation is concentrated on a small number of trees and males and females are in close proximity in space and time. |
| |
Keywords: | Disparlure gypsy moth Lymantria dispar mating disruption |
|
|