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Optimization of Pheromone Dosage for Gypsy Moth Mating Disruption

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Optimization of Pheromone Dosage for Gypsy Moth Mating Disruption Blackwell Publishing, Ltd. Optimization of pheromone dosage for gypsy moth mating disruption Ksenia S. Tcheslavskaia1, Kevin W. Thorpe2, Carlyle C. Brewster1, Alexei A. Sharov3, Donna S. Leonard4, Richard C. Reardon5, Vic C. Mastro6, Patricia Sellers7 & E. Anderson Roberts1 1Department of Entomology, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, VA 24061, USA; 2USDA, Agricultural Research Service, Beltsville, MD 20705, USA; 3249 Ullman Road, Pasadena, MD 21122, USA; 4USDA, Forest Service, Asheville, NC 28802, USA; 5USDA, Forest Service, Morgantown, WV 26505, USA; 6USDA, APHIS, Otis ANGB, MA 02542, USA; 7USDA, Forest Service, Harrisonburg, VA 22801, USA Accepted: 22 December 2004 Key words: Lymantria dispar, Lepidoptera, Lymantriidae, pheromone, Hercon Disrupt® II plastic flakes, disparlure, dosage response, forest pest Abstract The effect of aerial applications of the pheromone disparlure at varying dosages on mating disruption in low-density gypsy moth, Lymantria dispar (L.) (Lepidoptera: Lymantriidae), populations was determined in field plots in Virginia, USA during 2000 and 2002. Six dosages [0.15, 0.75, 3, 15, 37.5, and 75 g active ingredient (AI)/ha] of disparlure were tested during the 2-year study. A strongly positive dose–response relationship was observed between pheromone dosages and mating disruption, as measured by the reduction in male moth capture in pheromone-baited traps and mating successes of females. Dosages of pheromone ≥15 g AI/ha (15, 37.5, and 75 g AI/ha) reduced the mating success of females by >99% and significantly reduced male moth catches in pheromone-baited traps compared to untreated plots. Pheromone dosages <15 g AI/ha also reduced trap catch, but to a lesser extent than dosages ≥15 g AI/ha. Furthermore, the effectiveness of the lower dosage treatments (0.15, 0.75, and 3 g AI/ha) declined over time, so that by the end of the study, male moth catches in traps were significantly lower in plots treated with pheromone dosages ≥15 g AI/ha. The dosage of 75 g AI/ ha was initially replaced by a dosage of 37.5 g AI/ha in the USDA Forest Service Slow-the-Spread (STS) of the Gypsy Moth management program, but the program is currently making the transition to a dosage of 15 g AI/ha. These changes in applied dosages have resulted in a reduction in the cost of gypsy moth mating disruption treatments. released slowly at a constant rate and be present in the air Introduction in sufficient quantities for the entire period during which The management of populations of the gypsy moth, Lymantria the moths are sexually active (Cardé et al., 1975; Howse et al., dispar (L.) (Lepidoptera: Lymantriidae), by mating disruption 1998; Reardon et al., 1998). Thus far, the Hercon Disrupt® has been attempted since 1971 (Stevens & Beroza, 1972; II plastic flake formulation of disparlure is a gypsy moth Schwalbe et al., 1974; Granett & Doane, 1975). During the mating disruption product that satisfies the above criteria, last 20 years extensive research has been conducted towards and this formulation is therefore currently in use in the finding an appropriate formulation (e.g., Plimmer et al., USDA Forest Service Slow-the-Spread (STS) of the Gypsy 1982; Thorpe et al., 1999) and dosage (e.g., Webb et al., Moth program (Reardon et al., 1998; Sharov et al., 2002b). 1988) of the gypsy moth pheromone, disparlure, for use in In one of the earliest dose–response experiments to be mating disruption. Studies have shown that for mating conducted (Webb et al., 1988), Hercon Disrupt® II was applied disruption to be successful, the pheromone must be aerially at dosages of 7.5, 30, and 75 g active ingredient (AI)/ ha. A strong negative relationship was observed between *Correspondence: Department of Entomology, 202 Price Hall, pheromone dosage and male moth response to pheromone- Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, VA 24061-0319, USA. Tel.: +1 540 231 baited traps and females. The large number of males that 9623; Fax: +1 540 231 9131; E-mail: [email protected] were trapped suggested that the study was conducted in an © 2005 The Netherlands Entomological Society Entomologia Experimentalis et Applicata 115: 355–361, 2005 355 356 Tcheslavskaia et al. area with a high population density of gypsy moths. A number Forest near Millboro Springs (Bath Co), VA [UTM 637052 of other studies also showed decreasing mating success E, 4223294 N to 614250 E, 4192715 N, NAD 27, zone 17]. (i.e., proportion of mated females) and male moth captures Four plots were used as controls and left untreated; the with increasing dosages of dispalure, from 0 to 700 g AI/ha remaining eight plots were treated with racemic disparlure (Schwalbe & Mastro, 1988; Kolodny-Hirsch & Schwalbe, formulated as Disrupt® II (Hercon Environmental 1990; Webb et al., 1990; Kolodny-Hirsch & Webb, 1993). Corporation, Emigsville, PA, USA) plastic flakes at 37.5 Studies of the effects of pheromone dosage on gypsy and 75 g AI/ha. Each treatment was therefore replicated moth mating disruption have usually been conducted four times. employing high dosages against high-density populations (e.g., Schwalbe & Mastro, 1988; Webb et al., 1988, 1990); Treatments. The gypsy moth mating disruption formula- however, it now appears that mating disruption is most tion consisted of plastic flakes (3 mm long × 1 mm wide × suitable for the suppression and eradication of isolated and 0.5 mm thick) composed of polyvinyl chloride (PVC) semi-isolated low-density gypsy moth populations along outer layers and an inner polymer layer containing 17.9% the leading edge of an expanding front (Sharov et al., 2002a). racemic disparlure ((Z)-7,8-epoxy-2-methyloctadecane). The strategy of mating disruption in low-density populations The flakes were mixed with diatomaceous earth (3% wt/ was therefore implemented in 1998 by the STS program in wt) to reduce clogging and were applied from a fixed-wing eight US states, from Wisconsin in the north to North aircraft (Air Tractors) using specialized application pods Carolina in the south (Sharov et al., 2002b). In isolated, (Schweitzer Aircraft Corp., Elmira, NY, USA). Within the low-density gypsy moth populations, mating disruption pods, the flakes were mixed with a multipolymer emulsion may also be an effective management strategy when the glue (Gelva 2333, Solutia Inc., Springfield, MA, USA) and pheromone is applied at relatively low dosages. However, dispensed through a spinner (Reardon et al., 1998). At the little information is available on the effects of low dosages highest dosage of 75 g AI/ha, the pods were calibrated to of disparlure on low-density gypsy moth populations. deliver 85 g of flakes and 113 ml of glue per ha. Disparlure The objective of this study was to evaluate the relation- release rate from applied flakes was not determined in this ship between the dosage of applied pheromone and mating study. However, in previous studies where plastic flakes disruption in low-density gypsy moth populations using a were applied under similar conditions, the flakes released wider range of pheromone dosages than was applied in 30–50% of their disparlure content over the 6-week period previous studies. Experiments were conducted in 2000 and of male moth flight (Leonhardt et al., 1996; Thorpe et al., 2002 using two and five dosages of pheromone, respectively, 1999). A Global Positioning Satellite (GPS) navigation to evaluate the effects on mating disruption in gypsy moth system was used to guide the spray applications. populations, as measured by the mating success of females, An evaluation of treatment effects was done in a central and male moth catches in pheromone-baited traps. 175 × 175 m core area (Figure 1). Gypsy moth mating suc- cess was evaluated using laboratory-reared virgin females. Each study plot had nine tethered females, nine females in Materials and methods mating stations, and four pheromone-baited traps (Figure 1). Dose–response experiment: 2000 Each mating station was a cardboard delta trap contain- Twelve plots, each 500 × 500 m and separated by at least ing a female with neither glue nor synthetic pheromone. 1 km, were selected in the George Washington National Females were tethered around the base of a front wing Figure 1 Layout of pheromone-baited traps, mating stations, and tethered Lymantria dispar females in the 175 × 175 m core sampling area of an experimental forest plot in Millboro Springs, VA in 2000. Optimization of gypsy moth pheromone dosage 357 using a 10–15 cm thread and the thread was attached to a Mating disruption was evaluated by recapture of tree by a pushpin (Sharov et al., 1995). To protect the teth- released laboratory-reared males in USDA milk-carton ered females from predators, a Tanglefoot (The Tanglefoot traps baited with 500 µg of (+)-disparlure in twine dis- Company, Grand Rapids, MI, USA) glue ring was applied pensers (Schwalbe, 1981; Leonhardt et al., 1992). Laboratory- at a radius of ca. 25 cm around each individual. Females reared, rather than naturally occurring, moths were used were left on trees for 24 h, after which time they were to ensure equal male moth density among plots and to removed and their fertilization status was determined via extend the time period during which data could be col- analyses of the spermatheca and by determining the lected. In plots treated with 15 and 37.5 g AI/ha, the rate of embryonation of eggs (Stark et al., 1974; Sharov et al., fertilization of females was also used to evaluate the effect 1995; Tcheslavskaia et al., 2002). Male moth capture was of applied pheromone. Each study plot had three male determined using standard USDA milk-carton phero- moth release points and eight pheromone-baited traps. mone traps baited with 500 µg of (+)-disparlure in twine The release points were established at the center of each dispensers (Hercon Environmental Corporation, Emigs- plot and 150 m to the north and south of the plot center.
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