SPLAT-PBW: An eco-friendly, cost-effective mating disruption tool for the management of the pink bollworm on cotton

Pink bollworm, Pectinophora gossypiella (Saunders), (Lepidoptera: Gelechidae) is considered as a notorious and destructive pest in the world and can reduce cotton yield up to 30% if not managed properly. Insect pest management through mating disruption technique offers practically an ideal approach to combat the pests. In the present study, the efficacy of mating disruption dispensers (PB rope L) for the management of pink bollworm was evaluated and the percent infestation in bolls and leftover bolls was determined in the cotton growing areas of Punjab, Pakistan during 2017. The PB ropes @100 per acre were used for each treated field of approximately 50 acres with a block of 10 acres as a control plot in the same union council of the treated plot. Calculation was made by comparing infestation and cotton yield in treated field with that of control field. The PB rope significantly reduced both the number of males in the sex pheromone traps and cotton bolls damage. Results revealed that PB rope during the first pin square period (45 days after sowing) effectively minimized the damage even in leftover bolls. The yield of treated field was enhanced compared with control field by 31% in 2017. Infestation in leftover bolls was estimated by comparing cotton bolls collected from control field with bolls from the treated field. The results reflected 1.56% damage in control field and 0.30% damage in treated field with a difference of 1.26 (80% reduction in damage in treated plots). Result indicated that PB rope disrupted the pest mating effectively during July to October.

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Bioeconomic synergy between tactics for insect eradication in the presence of Allee effects

Proceedings of The Royal Society B Biological Sciences ◽

10.1098/rspb.2012.0255 ◽

2012 ◽

Vol 279 (1739) ◽

pp. 2807-2815 ◽

Cited By ~ 35

Author(s):

Julie C. Blackwood ◽

Ludek Berec ◽

Takehiko Yamanaka ◽

Rebecca S. Epanchin-Niell ◽

Alan Hastings ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Native Species ◽

Mating Disruption ◽

Cost Effective ◽

Small Populations ◽

Low Density ◽

Pest Species ◽

Allee Effects ◽

Pesticide Application ◽

Simultaneous Application

Preventing the establishment of invading pest species can be beneficial with respect to averting future environmental and economic impacts and also in preventing the accumulation of control costs. Allee effects play an important role in the dynamics of newly established, low-density populations by driving small populations into self-extinction, making Allee effects critical in influencing outcomes of eradication efforts. We consider interactions between management tactics in the presence of Allee effects to determine cost-effective and time-efficient combinations to achieve eradication by developing a model that considers pesticide application, predator augmentation and mating disruption as control tactics, using the gypsy moth as a case study. Our findings indicate that given a range of constant expenditure levels, applying moderate levels of pesticides in conjunction with mating disruption increases the Allee threshold which simultaneously substantially decreases the time to eradication relative to either tactic alone. In contrast, increasing predation in conjunction with other tactics requires larger economic expenditures to achieve similar outcomes for the use of pesticide application or mating disruption alone. These results demonstrate the beneficial synergy that may arise from nonlinearities associated with the simultaneous application of multiple eradication tactics and offer new prospects for preventing the establishment of damaging non-native species.

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Evaluation of Shin-Etsu twist-tie rope dispensers by the mating table technique for disrupting mating of the cotton bollworm, Helicoverpa armigera (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae), and the pink bollworm, Pectinophora gossypiella (Lepidoptera: Gelechiidae)

Bulletin of Entomological Research ◽

10.1017/s0007485300025712 ◽

1998 ◽

Vol 88 (2) ◽

pp. 141-148 ◽

Cited By ~ 8

Author(s):

M Kehat ◽

L Anshelevich ◽

D Gordon ◽

M Harel ◽

E Dunkelblum

Keyword(s):

Helicoverpa Armigera ◽

Mating Disruption ◽

Pink Bollworm ◽

Pectinophora Gossypiella ◽

Cotton Bollworm ◽

Complete Suppression ◽

Helicoverpa Armígera ◽

Rope Dispensers ◽

High Level ◽

And Control

AbstractDifferent Shin-Etsu twist-tie rope formulations, containing either the cotton bollworm, Helicoverpa armigera (Hübner) pheromone or pink bollworm, Pectinophora gossypiella (Saunders) pheromone, or both, in the same rope, were tested in Israel for mating disruption. The success of mating disruption was evaluated by the mating table technique, comparing the percentage of mating of virgin sentinel females in pheromone-treated and control plots. Two variants of this technique were evaluated, one with two mating tables per plot, each containing five to seven females, and the other with six to eight mating tables per plot, with only one female per table. The latter method was more sensitive than the former, particularly at low population densities. Two tests were conducted in 1995 in order to compare a blend of five components of H. armigera pheromone with a blend of two components for mating disruption. The application consisted of 2000 ropes/ha, each with 80 mg pheromone. Evaluation by the two mating table methods showed clearly that the formulation containing two components was superior to the five-component blend for mating disruption, suppressing mating almost completely for 49 days. A new combined formulation, HPROPE, containing 175 mg of the H. armigera two component blend and 65 mg of P. gossypiella pheromone was tested in 1996 for mating disruption of both pests. Application of 625 ropes/ha caused a high level of suppression of mating of H. armigera females for at least 94 days and that of P. gossypiella females for 161 days. The pheromone release rates were c. 625 mg/day/ha for H. armigera and 162 mg/day/ha for P. gossypiella. A ‘long-life’ formulation of P. gossypiella pheromone, PBW rope LR, applied at 125 ropes/ha releasing 137 mg/day/ha achieved complete suppression of mating over 75 days. This release rate of P. gossypiella pheromone was much lower than that currently used in Israel (275 mg/day/ha). The present study indicates that mating of females of two moth pests with different pheromones can be disrupted by one combined formulation.

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Effect of density of pheromone sources, pheromone dosage and population pressure on mating of pink bollworm, Pectinophora gossypiella (Lepidoptera: Gelechiidae)

Bulletin of Entomological Research ◽

10.1017/s0007485399000474 ◽

1999 ◽

Vol 89 (4) ◽

pp. 339-345 ◽

Cited By ~ 7

Author(s):

M. Kehat ◽

L. Anshelevich ◽

D. Gordon ◽

M. Harel ◽

L. Zilberg ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Mating Disruption ◽

Critical Factor ◽

Pheromone Trap ◽

Pink Bollworm ◽

Pectinophora Gossypiella ◽

Population Pressure ◽

Trap Catch ◽

Pest Population ◽

Application Rates ◽

And Control

AbstractThe effect of density of the Shin-Etsu twist-tie rope pheromone formulation (PBW rope L®) on mating of female pink bollworm, Pectinophora gossypiella(Saunders) was tested in Israel. The success of mating disruption was evaluated during 1997 by the mating table technique, comparing the percentage of mating of virgin sentinel females in pheromone-treated and control plots. Under low pest population pressure application of ‘long-life’ formulation of P. gossypiellapheromone, PBW rope L®, spaced 9 m, 11 m and 14 m apart, resulted in very high suppression of mating (96.5–100%) and complete shut-down of pheromone trap catch. These application rates were much lower than those now prevailing in Israel and elsewhere. Spacing of ropes 20 m apart resulted in less effective mating disruption of 65% only, and shut-down of pheromone traps was also incomplete. The tests during 1998 were carried out at high pest population and efficacy of treatments was assessed by the reduction of male capture in traps in pheromone-treated plots relative to catches in the control. The distance between pheromone sources proved to be the most critical factor determining success. In both years, any spacing significantly greater than 10 m gave markedly less than complete trap catch shutdown/mating suppression. Pheromone dosages and population density were also important in determining mating success. Results obtained in this study indicate the possibility of reducing the number of pheromone sources per unit area and the total amount of pheromone as compared with that in use today, only at very low pest populations. However at high population levels, dispensers closely-spaced, with increased dosages of pheromone, are required.

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