Abstract

The potential for pheromone-based mating disruption of the Brassica pest Contarinia nasturtii was tested, both in small-scale plots with Brussels sprouts and in commercial-scale fields with either broccoli or cauliflower. Experiments in the small-scale plots used laboratory-reared insects released into a previously uninfested area, whereas large-scale experiments used a high natural population of C. nasturtii. Effectiveness of mating disruption was evaluated by the reduction of male captures in pheromone traps, and by reduction of crop damage caused by C. nasturtii. Dental cotton rolls (small-scale experiment) and polyethylene caps (large-scale experiment), containing 50 mu g (2S, 9S)-diacetoxyundecane, 100 mu g (2S,10S)-diacetoxyundecane, and 1 mu g (2S)-acetoxyundecane, spaced 2 m apart, served as dispensers in the test plots. In both experiments, mean catches of C. nasturtii males in pheromone traps were reduced to near zero in treated plots, with control plots averaging 71 males/trap. In the large-scale experiments, no males were caught in pheromone traps over a period of 41 days after mating disruption was applied; one male was caught from days 42-60. In the small-scale trials, crop damage was reduced by 59 %, compared to the untreated control plot. In the large-scale experiments, damage was reduced on average by 91 %. This study shows successful field application of the mating disruption technique for control of a member of the dipteran family Cecidomyiidae, and demonstrates that pheromone-based mating disruption has potential for management of C. nasturtii populations.

Keywords

Contarinia nasturtii; Swede midge; Cecidomyiidae; Diptera; Sex pheromone; Mating disruption; Trap shut-down; Herbivore damage; Pest control efficacy; (2S,9S)-diacetoxyundecane; (2S,10S)-diacetoxyundecane; (S)-2-acetoxyundecane

Published in

Journal of Chemical Ecology
2012, Volume: 38, number: 9, pages: 1171-1177
Publisher: SPRINGER

SLU Authors

• Hillbur, Ylva

  • Department of Plant Protection Biology, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences
    

UKÄ Subject classification

Biochemistry and Molecular Biology
Environmental Sciences
Ecology


Publication identifier

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10886-012-0180-0

Permanent link to this page (URI)

https://res.slu.se/id/publ/45074