Laboratory and field experiments towards the development of an attract andkill strategy for the control of the codling moth, Cydia pomonella

A viscous formulation based on castor oil containing the pyrethroid insecti cide cyfluthrin and E8, E10-dodecadienol, the main component of the codling moth sex pheromone, (Cydia pomonella L.: Tortricidae, Olethreutinae) was d eveloped. The insecticidal performance of the formulation was evaluated in the laboratory using a tarsal-contact bioassay. The pheromone dosage requir ed to attract male moths to the formulation was determined in behavioural t ests performed in a wind tunnel. The efficacy of formulations applied to se edlings of the host plant was further investigated in glasshouse experiment s conducted with male moths in small wire-gauze cages. The laboratory tests resulted in a formulation for preliminary field trials containing 4% cyflu thrin and 0.1% pheromone. During the 1995 growing season, experiments were conducted in apple orchards at three locations in Germany. The formulation was first applied to the bark of apple trees (Malus domestica) in mid May a nd then again in late July. A good level of control, comparable with a spra y treatment using the insect growth regulator Alsystin was achieved. The po tential of the attract and kill strategy, combining selective attraction of a pest species with the efficacy associated with a pyrethroid insecticide treatment, as a means of controlling the codling moth in commercial apple g rowing, is discussed.