Measuring Pheromone Concentrations in Cotton Fields with the EAG Method

Mating disruption has proved to be an important method of pest control for many cropping systems. However, there seems to remain a large potential for improvement and optimization of the method. For example, there are different types of formulations available, but there is very little data about their actual performance in the field: What level of pheromone concentration can each formulation maintain, and for how long? Apart from the performance of the pheromone sources, other questions arise. How homogeneous is pheromone distribution? How far does pheromone drift into adjacent fields? Do the plants’ leaves interact with pheromone?