Efficacy Test of Mating Disruptors Using Food Trap of Oriental Fruit Moth, Grapholita molesta (Busck)

This study was performed to estimate the efficacy of three commercial mating disruptors for the control of oriental fruit moth, Grapholita molesta (Busck), using a food-baited trap to collect field females. Mated female ratios estimated in the mating disruptor-treated areas were compared with the estimates of male trap captures, and both estimates were evaluated on the basis of crop damage measured by shoot tip damage caused by G. molesta. Both males and females were attracted to the food trap-baited with terpinyl acetate in apple orchard. Spermatophore of G. molesta was similar to female bursa copulatrix in size. Though there was more than 95% reduction in male trap captures indicating significant mating disruption, significant crop damage occurred on apple leaf buds, in which more than 35% of captured females were mated. This study demonstrates that assessment of the mated females would be more reasonable to represent the efficacy of mating disruptor(s) than the assessment of the male captures in G. molesta.