Recipient Organization
Alpha Scents, Inc.
1089 Willamette Falls Drive
West Linn,OR 97068
Performing Department
(N/A)
Non Technical Summary
Green June beetle (GJB), Cotinis nitida, is an important pest of grapes, peaches, apples and all brambles. The beetles feed on the ripe fruit and inoculate it with fungi which cause fruit decay. As much as 80% of the fruit can be destroyed. Mass GJB outbreaks occur when the fruit is ready for harvest, thus the growers cannot use insecticide sprays (Pre-harvest and re-entry intervals extend beyond the time of the harvest). Available control measures are exclusion nets, planting sacrificial trap crop plots selectively sprayed to eliminate GJB in the area, and timely harvesting and removal of rotting fruit (which attracts this insect). Such control measures require planning ahead and forecasting dynamics of local GJB populations. Models forecasting the time and the dynamics of GJB outbreaks has not been developed and economic and effective population monitoring tools for GJB do not exist. Lures are at the stage of development, traps are very expensive (up to $26 a piece). One of the applicants has developed an inexpensive prototype of a GJB monitoring trap, and successfully used it in a study on GJB sexual dimorphism. All components of this trap prototype (including the lure) are inexpensive and available in local markets. We propose development of 1) effective controlled-release formulation for GJB attractants, 2) monitoring trap easy to manufacture by grower that can be coupled with a degree-day model predicting GJB flight, and 3) a novel, inexpensive, environmentally-friendly, easily deployed killing station.
Animal Health Component
100%
Research Effort Categories
Basic
(N/A)
Applied
100%
Developmental
(N/A)
Goals / Objectives
Effective trapping system and non-sprayed insecticidal GJB management technology killing stations will provide growers in rural and urban communities with inexpensive and much needed technologies of GJB control that can be deployed in the field just prior to and during harvest time when broadcast insecticidal sprays are not permitted. First we will conduct laboratory and field tests to evaluate an advanced prototype attract-and-kill technology for GJB, which will be ready for further commercial development and field validation. We will design, manufacture and bioassay several prototype designs, and then manufacture a sufficient number of the most promising configuration prototype to facilitate testing in replicated field trials against the GJB at different rates of deployment per acre. The overarching objective of the project is to demonstrate the effectiveness of deploying kill stations for suppression of GJB.
Project Methods
Trap prototyping. The prototype of the trap is made of 1 liter polyethylene terephtalate bottle. Three rectangular openings are cut out approximately 8 cm from the bottom of the bottle. The trap hangs on a length of polypropylene cord and is topped with a 3 cm wide yellow polypropylene strip. Traps will be baited with different concentration of alcohol. Determination of optimal GJB attraction to isopropanol concentration. The traps will be baited with lures that consist of 10%, 33%, 50%, 66%, 100% isopropanol. Each trap will be baited with a lure of a different isopropanol concentration in a replicated block . The insects will be collected after 48 hours. This experiment will be repeated twice every week in the first month of GJB flight. Determination of optimal GJB attraction to different release rates of isopropanol. We will test effect of different daily release rates of isopropanol on GJB attraction. Lures will be formulated by Alpha Scents in commercially available pouch type dispensers. We will produce dispensers that release 0.5, 1, 2, 4, and 8 g of isopropanol per day. Determination of optimal height of trap placement. With previously gained results we will test the optimal height of trap placement. We will hang traps at the height of 0.5, 1 and 1.3 m. Each trap will be filled with 125 ml of lure (45% rubbing alcohol). The insect content of the traps will be collected after 48 hrs. This experiment will be repeated every week throughout the duration of the experiment. Determination of optimal color of the strip topping the trap. Using the best trap lure combination from previous experiments we will test addition of color to the trap prototype. The traps will be filled with 125 ml of 45% rubbing alcohol. Each trap will be topped with a 3 cm wide strip of polyethylene of different colors: yellow, orange, red, blue, purple, green, black, white or a transparent strip. The insect content of the traps will be collected after 48 hours. This experiment will be repeated twice every week throughout the duration of the experiment. Designing and Testing Killing Stations. We will build trap prototypes in the form of 10 cm diameter by 65 cm long cylinder of blue, black, and yellow toxic fabric impregnated with deltamethrin. Each killing station color will be baited with the most attractive isopropanol lure and placed in small field cages as: no-choice bioassay with 2 cylinders all of the same color; and two-choice bioassay of 2 cylinders of two different colors. Fifty GJBs will be released into each bioassay cage. We will also record at 5 min intervals the number of GJBs resting on each colored fabric cylinder in each cage, the number on the side of the screen cage, and the number on the cage floor. The number of dead beetles per cage will be recorded at 3, 6, 24 and 28 hrs after release in each cage. For each experiment, the variation in relative attractiveness of treatments to GJBs over several consecutive dates will be determined by a repeated measures ANOVA and overall treatment effect in the no-choice and two-choice bioassays will be analyzed using a Likely Ratio Chi Square (χ2) test.