Research was conducted to determine the feasibility of spray application of insect pheromones on the trunk, scaffold limbs, and canopy of trees. The objectives were to develop a sprayable pheromone carriel; a simple spray delivery system, and toevaluate the effectiveness of spray application of pheromones for mating disruption by comparison with commercial plastic dispensers. The carrier developed was a paraffin/pheromone emulsion, thick and stable at ambient temperature, which was applied witha modified grease pump operated by hand. The release rate of oriental fruit moth (OFM) pheromone from emulsions containing 4 pheromone in 59 water and 30 wax was 0.75 mg/day in laboratory tests over 133 days, compared with 0.44 mg/day from commercialplastic dispensers in similar tests. In a mature cling peach orchard, 75 of the emulsion material sprayed was deposited on the tree, either on the foliage or limbs. Field tests in a commercial almond orchard showed that spray applied paraffin/pheromoneemulsions were comparable to commercial plastic dispensers at disrupting mating behavior of OFM.
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