The codling moth is a key pest of apples and pears in Washington State. The larvae or catepillar enter the fruit, burrow into the center and feed on the seeds. The damage results in a severe loss of income due to reduced quality of the infested fruit.
In traditional pest control programs, three to four summer applications of broad-spectrum insecticides are used to control codling moths. These insecticides constitute over half of all insecticides sprayed in apple orchards during the summer months. Unfortunately, broad-spectrum insecticides kill not only codling moths but are also highly toxic to most natural enemies of the codling moth.
Several years ago, scientists identified pheromones from insects and identified one from the codling moth. This pheromone has now been put into a dispenser, which releases the chemical slowly over time and disrupts the ability of the male codling moth to locate females and mate.
Since 1994, our scientists have been collaborating with colleagues at the USDA-ARS laboratory in Wapato, Oregon State University and the University of California, Berkeley, researching ways to expand mating disruption practices to broad areas of the orchard industry. This Codling Moth Areawide Management Project (CAMP), involves three sites in Washington and one each in Oregon and California.
In 1999, this mating disruption technique was used on 70,000 acres of Washington apple and pear orchards—about 30% of the state’s apple and pear acreage as well as on acreages in California and Oregon. The results in Washington State are reduced populations of codling moth in the test sites and a reduction in codling moth damage, from about 1% of all fruit to less that 1/ 1000th of a percent 3 years into the project.
In addition, the project has enabled Washington fruit growers to reduce their use of insecticides to control codling moths by some 70%. This saves growers money as well as time, lowers residues on fruit and provides a safer work environment for farm workers.
