CAMPYLOMMA VERBASCI (HETEROPTERA, MIRIDAE) - PHEROMONE-BASED SEASONALFLIGHT PATTERNS AND PREDICTION OF NYMPHAL DENSITIES IN APPLE ORCHARDS

Weekly catches of adult male Campylomma verbasci (Meyer) in sex pherom one-baited wing traps provided a seasonal record of flight activity du ring 1991 in apple orchards and patches of mullein in the interior of British Columbia. The first of two periods of flight activity reflecte d migration from apple to mullein, and the second probably represented two generations on mullein followed by migration back to apple. Monit oring of adult male C. verbasci using sex pheromone-baited traps in fa ll of 1990 and 1991 followed by limb-tap samples for first-generation nymphs the following years showed a significant positive relationship between fall catches and density of nymphs in conventional apple orcha rds. This result suggests that a pheromone-based monitoring system dur ing fall could be developed to predict the density of nymphs the follo wing spring, There was no such relationship in organic orchards, where adult population in the fall were similar to those in conventional or chards, but mean counts of nymphs in the spring were 20 times lower. T wo probable hypotheses could account for this disparity. Either female C. verbasci lay fewer overwintering eggs in organic orchards or morta lity is higher, possibly resulting from biological-control agents acti ng in some organic orchards.