Studying Coddling Moth

Studying Coddling Moth

Studying Coddling Moth. I’m Greg Martin with today’s Fruit Grower Report.

Coddling moth and oblique banded leafroller are two pests that cause a lot of damage for tree fruit growers and understanding how various pesticides work on them can be crucial. Dr. Vince Jones Professor & Entomologist at WSU’s Tree Fruit Research & Extension Center is working with students to get more information.

JONES: What we were interested in was how pesticides affect flight and whether there were certain ones that would reduce flight so that we could reduce problems of movement between orchards.

Teah Clement-Smith, Graduate Research Assistant took on the task of finding that answer using a unique machine called a flight mill.

CLEMENT-SMITH: We have 24 computer digital linked flight mills that simultaneously run and they’re all connected to a computer. I use a paintbrush to remove their thoracic scales and I take the ball point of a number one insect pin and hot glue that to the thoracic shield of the moth. I leave them to run for 14 hours in one of our experiments.

The computer then logs all the data on the moth’s flight.

JONES: One of the things that Teah found in her Master’s thesis was that some of these pesticides had very, very low rates of 10% or less. 1% with some of them actually reduced flight dramatically. So instead of flying maybe 5 or 6 hours they might fly 12 or 15 minutes.

That’s today’s Fruit Grower Report. I’m Greg Martin on the Ag Information Network. 
 

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