Monitoring for Thysanoplusia orichalcea in New Zealand

摘要

Thysanoplusia orichalcea Fabricius, commonly known as soybean looper (SBL), is an important pest of vegetable brassica and other leafy crops in the north of New Zealand, and is often the major lepidopteran pest in summer and autumn crops. We investigated the efficiency of a pheromone lure and a female plusiine noctuid moth floral attractant for monitoring of SBL using Scentry ' Heliothis' traps. The pheromone trap captured large numbers of male moths ( averaging 84 per night during a 6-week peak flight period in autumn), whereas the female trap caught only a small fraction of those numbers, with a mean catch ratio ranging from 90: 1 to 430: 1 male to female moths caught at different trap locations over a 3-month period. The synthetic pheromone was consistently twice as effective a lure as unmated female moths. This pheromone and trap design combination is a very effective trapping tool and may be developed for forecasting pest infestations in leafy vegetables. A more effective female moth attractant would be a useful tool both for forecasting and for lure and kill or lure and infect technology for control of SBL.