Operational monitoring of the whitemarked tussock moth with Multipher traps generating the unstable pheromone component (Z,Z)-6,9-heneicosadien-11-one from a precursor.

摘要

A ketal precursor system including the pump and vial was adapted to Multipher traps used operationally for monitoring whitemarked tussock moth (WMTM; Orgyia leucostigma) populations, and compared their performance under operational conditions with traps baited with the standard monitoring lure formulated with Z6-11-one-21Hy. Field tests were conducted in conjunction with the operational WMTM monitoring programmes in both New Brunswick and the Cape Breton Highlands of Nova Scotia, using 10 of the permanent monitoring sites in each province. The ketal-baited traps in New Brunswick out-caught the operational traps on all dates that the traps were visited and fewer of the ketal-baited traps had zero catches. Overall, there was a 69-fold difference in WMTM catch between the traps. The range of catches in the ketal-baited traps varied widely (15-328 moths per trap) while the range for the operational traps was much narrower (0-4 moths per trap). Approximately 11% of the moths in the ketal-baited traps could not be identified with complete certainty as WMTM, because their wings were in poor condition but it was assumed that they were also WMTM. In Nova Scotia, the ketal-baited traps out-caught the operational traps by an 8-fold margin. Only 5 WMTM were caught in these traps, whereas an average of 40.9+or-8.8 WMTM were caught in the operational traps.