of Publication30th Year Volume XXX, Number 3/4, March/April 2008 Light Brown Apple Moth— Crisis of Trust By William Quarles Gilligan tortricid.net Photo courtesy of Todd he light brown apple moth (LBAM), Epiphyas T postvittana, is a small moth that is presenting the U.S. with big problems. It is native to Australia but has invaded New Zealand, the UK and Hawaii. It flies at night, mates, and lays eggs on the top surface of a leaf. Eggs hatch into green caterpillars (larvae) that feed on the underside of leaves, secret- ing silk to secure their position on a plant. Larvae also use their silk to roll leaves into a cylinder, forming a shelter for feeding. This behavior makes them part of a class of pest moths called leafrollers (Tortri- cidae). LBAM mostly attacks leaves, but also may damage fruit (Varela et al. 2008). (See Box A for the Biology.) The larvae feed on more than 250 Shown here is a male light brown apple moth, Epiphyas postvittana. Color different plant species, and they are variation in the forewing may vary widely between individuals. Females an economic threat to a number of are more uniformly light brown. crops such as apples, pears, oranges, and grapes. The light California (Varela et al. 2008; 2008). Dispersal over 14 counties brown apple moth has been in Johnson et al. 2007). would have taken years if dispersal Hawaii for 80 years, and in New No one really knows how long was by flying. If dispersal was from Zealand for about 100 years. Since LBAM has been here. Initial intro- distribution of contaminated plant the U.S. regularly trades agricultur- ductions of invasives tend to be material, it would have still taken al commodities with New Zealand, spotty, populations are small, and some time for the moths to appear and there are many tourist flights unless monitoring agencies know in so many locations, and to appear from the U.S. mainland to Hawaii where to look, they do not find any- so readily in monitoring traps. every day, an accidental introduc- thing. According to University of tion of this pest was probably just a California, Davis entomologist Jim matter of time. In 2007, Jerry Carey, LBAM was “probably here a Powell, a retired USDA entomolo- very long time prior to its discovery In This Issue gist, found a couple of LBAM in his and it’s probably far more wide- backyard in Berkeley, California. spread than currently delineated” Apple Moth 1 The California Department of Food (Garvey 2007). IPM News 7 and Agriculture (CDFA) began If the moths spread just by flying, installation of pheromone monitor- the average flight distance is about ESA 8 ing traps in March of 2007, and by the length of a football field (100 m; Calendar 13 December nearly 16,000 moths had 328 ft). Moths also “seldom leave a been found in 14 counties in high quality host” (Varela et al. Update $134 million for these crops if the The IPM Practitioner is published six times Quarantine a Problem pest becomes established (Fowler et per year by the Bio-Integral Resource Confirmation of LBAM presence Center (BIRC), a non-profit corporation al. 2007). in the U.S. has brought big trouble. undertaking research and education in inte- At the moment, the major eco- grated pest management. Despite the fact that LBAM may nomic hardship is on production Managing Editor William Quarles have been here for some time, and nurseries in the nine quarantined Contributing Editors Sheila Daar has not caused noticeable plant California counties. Because of the Tanya Drlik damage, the California Department Laurie Swiadon quarantine, all shipments out of of Food and Agriculture (CDFA) these areas must be inspected and Editor-at-Large Joel Grossman slapped a quarantine on the most certified free of the pest. Special Business Manager Jennifer Bates heavily infested counties. Though monitoring techniques are needed. Artist Diane Kuhn LBAM has been found in 14 coun- Pheromone traps must be installed For media kits or other advertising informa- ties, only nine counties are current- at each nursery. Even more dis- tion, contact Bill Quarles at 510/524-2567, ly quarantined. These include turbing, infested plant material [email protected]. Alameda, Contra Costa, Marin, must be treated with the organo- Advisory Board Monterey, San Francisco, San phosphate chlorpyrifos. Chlor- George Bird, Michigan State Univ.; Sterling Mateo, Santa Clara, Santa Cruz, pyrifos is a neurotoxin that puts Bunnell, M.D., Berkeley, CA ; Momei Chen, and Solano Counties (CDFA 2007). Jepson Herbarium, Univ. Calif., Berkeley; nursery workers at greater risk for Sharon Collman, Coop Extn., Wash. State If the offending counties had not toxic pesticide exposures (Johnson Univ.; Sheila Daar, Daar & Associates, been quarantined, then the USDA et al. 2007). Berkeley, CA; Walter Ebeling, UCLA, Emer.; was ready to quarantine plant ship- Steve Frantz, Global Environmental Options, Longmeadow, MA; Linda Gilkeson, Canadian ments from the entire state. Eradication or Ministry of Envir., Victoria, BC; Joseph Hancock, Univ. Calif, Berkeley; Helga Management? Olkowski, William Olkowski, Birc Founders; Once a problem like this is identi- George Poinar, Oregon State University, Corvallis, OR; Ramesh Chandra Saxena, fied, how should it be handled? One ICIPE, Nairobi, Kenya; Ruth Troetschler, PTF way is to remove it from the USDA Press, Los Altos, CA; J.C. van Lenteren, list of quarantine pests, acknowl- Agricultural University Wageningen, The Netherlands. edge that eradication will probably be impossible, and manage it like Manuscripts The IPMP welcomes accounts of IPM for any any other leafroller. But other coun- pest situation. Write for details on format for tries that trade with the U.S. may manuscripts or email us, [email protected]. continue with a zero tolerance poli- Citations cy. This stance might put U.S. com- The material here is protected by copyright, modity trade at risk (Johnson et al. and may not be reproduced in any form, either written, electronic or otherwise without 2008). written permission from BIRC. Contact Because of possible trade William Quarles at 510/524-2567 for proper impacts, a decision was made to publication credits and acknowledgement. contain and eradicate the infesta- Subscriptions/Memberships tion. The CDFA established a A subscription to the IPMP is one of the bene- Technical Working Group (TWG) fits of membership in BIRC. We also answer A Trichogramma egg para- pest management questions for our members sitoid may be a good biocon- that proposed a number of recom- and help them search for information. mendations at a meeting in San Memberships are $60/yr (institutions/ trol for LBAM. libraries/businesses); $35/yr (individuals). Diego in December 2007. The over- Canadian subscribers add $15 postage. All all recommendations included: other foreign subscribers add $25 airmail quarantine, intensive monitoring postage. A Dual membership, which includes Quarantine would have put at risk a combined subscription to both the IPMP both nationally and in California, and the Common Sense Pest Control California’s $32 billion dollar a year and implementation of an eradica- Quarterly, costs $85/yr (institutions); $55/yr agricultural industry (Johnson et (individuals). Government purchase orders tion program, of which “aerial appli- accepted. Donations to BIRC are tax- al. 2007; Varela et al. 2008). cation of mating disruption formu- deductible. The USDA is concerned because lations remains the tool of choice FEI# 94-2554036. LBAM could easily adapt to climate for application across broad areas.” Change of Address and crops throughout the U.S. According to the TWG, “eradica- When writing to request a change of address, Especially at risk are crops on the tion of the LBAM population will please send a copy of a recent address label. West Coast, the Southwest and the not be a simple endeavor, and will © 2008 BIRC, PO Box 7414, Berkeley, CA 94707; (510) 524-2567; FAX (510) 524-1758. Southeast. This area includes major likely take several years to accom- All rights reserved. ISSN #0738-968X apple, pear, grape, and orange pro- plish. In addition to mating disrup- duction regions of the country. tion, the program should consider USDA entomologists have estimated using a “multi-pronged” integrated yearly damage of between $77 and approach (insecticide, attract and IPM Practitioner, XXX(3/4) March/April 2008 2 Box 7414, Berkeley, CA 94707 Update kill, biological control and SIT and effective technique for sup- mendation was the use of wide- (Sterile Insect Techniques).” pressing invasives. A Trichogramma spread aerial pheromone applica- Continued research and nation- egg parasitoid would be a likely tions as part of the eradication wide monitoring seems reasonable. choice. Reduced-risk pesticides strategy. Pheromones are generally If the moth is already widespread such as Bacillus thuringiensis (BT) a benign and effective way to con- throughout the U.S., quarantine and spinosad should be effective for trol pests. However, pheromone and intensive eradication efforts the larval stages (Olkowski et al. applications are usually limited to might have to be reevaluated. 1991; Quarles 2005). crop production areas. Formula- Biological control is a reasonable The most controversial recom- tions used are often twist ties that Box A. Biology of LBAM Adult LBAM, as the name suggests, are generally head; the body is medium green with a darker green light brown in color. They are small moths, less than stripe. Hairs on the body are whitish. “In the anal half an inch long. They have protruding mouthparts region there is a greenish anal comb—a comb-shaped that resemble a snout. Forewings of males may be structure at the tail end of the larva” (Varela et al. lightbrown near the head, but the rear portion of the 2008). The larvae web two leaves together with their wings may be reddish-brown to black.