hide
Free keywords:
-
Abstract:
The carob moth, Ectomyelois ceratoniae (Zeller; Lepidoptera: Pyralidae), is a devastating pest in high-value crops
around the world. An efficient sex pheromone attractant is still missing for the management of this pest, because
the major pheromone component is unstable. Host plant volatiles attract herbivore insects and have shown to
have good potential to be exploited as alternatives or supplements to sex pheromones. To explore this possibility
in carob moth, we assessed the attraction of moths to the volatiles of mature pistachio and different fruit stages
of pomegranate, alone and in combination with virgin females, using sticky delta traps in pomegranate orchards
of Iran. Traps baited with mature pomegranates, whether uncracked or cracked, infested or uninfested, caught
significantly larger numbers of male and both mated and virgin female carob moths than unbaited traps. Traps
baited with headspace extract of cracked pomegranate only caught mated females, while mature pistachio only
attracted males. Pomegranate flowers, unripe pomegranate, and headspace extract of pistachio did not attract
moths. Traps baited with cracked fruit caught more mated females than traps baited with uncracked fruit. Males
were attracted similarly to traps baited with cracked-infested pomegranate as to traps baited with virgin females
alone. Interestingly, the combination of cracked pomegranate and virgin female enhanced the attraction of virgin
females. Together, our results show that volatiles from cracked pomegranates alone or in combination with female
sex pheromone have great potential for application in pest management programs of carob moth.
