Navel Orangeworm Pressure

The Number One Pest in Almonds and Pistachios is Very Active in Orchards These Days.

Joel Siegel is a USDA ARS entomologist based in Parlier, Southeast of Fresno,

“Navel orangeworm is still flying. So navel orange worm has been very active, at least in my traps,” said Siegel. “I would tell people we have a larger overwintering population this year than we had last year.”

And we asked Siegel why there is a bigger overwintering population this year.

“I wouldn't know. When I was following it, and as we were at the tail end of 2018, the flight suddenly dropped by the end of September. It just petered out. It rarely does that,” said Siegel. “Whereas this last year, the adult moths were still flying through the middle of October. So it just tells me there were just more moths out there looking for mummy nuts. And we did get rain this winter, but we also had a long dry February. So I think there was a lot more survival,” explained Siegel.

Siegel said he saw a big bulge in flight activity like two waves from about April 22nd, all the way it's still continuing. The numbers are only now starting to go down.