ECONEX ANARSIA LINEATELLA 2 MG 40 DAYS 1 UNIT

Sexual pheromone diffuser of the species Anarsia lineatella to attract males, with a duration of 40 days in normal field conditions.

Diffuser of natural rubber in capsule-shape. It is packaged individually in an aluminium sachet with labelled instructions. Once taken out of the sachet, the diffuser does not need any activation operation, simply place it directly in the trap.

Anarsia lineatella is a serious pest of stone fruit trees. It causes significant economic losses as it directly affects the fruit and damages buds, flowers and new shoots

This lepidopteran mainly affects species of Prunus, being primary hosts the almond tree, peach tree, nectarine tree, apricot tree and plum tree. As the secondary host, the pear tree is cited; associated hosts are the quinbrillero, species of Malus (ornamental), apple tree and Pyrus spp.

Anarsia lineatella is found in many countries in Europe, Asia, Africa and North America.

MORPHOLOGY AND BIOLOGY

The caterpillars reach 12 to 16 mm in size, are whitish or pinkish, with the first dark brown thoracic segment.

The adult is large, 14 to 16 mm in size, with narrow and almost rectangular upper wings. These upper wings are light grey with darker lines while the lower wings are uniformly grey.  When the adult is at rest the folded wings look like a roof. 

The egg measures 0.5 x 0.3 mm.  When newly-laid it is white, gradually changing to yellowish orange.

The newborn larva is 1 mm long and can reach 12 or 15 mm in size in its final developmental stage. Its body is chocolate-coloured with pink intersegment membranes.  The head is light brown to black. 

It winters as larvae in the second developmental stage, with no activity and having lodged itself in a hole that it has bored in the bark of trees that are 1 or 2 years old.  Inside this it builds a nest from silk threads and any remains of bark.    

The wintering larvae exit the tree from late January until late March. Once outside it settles on a flower bud or a new shoot, if there are any, to feed itself. The attacked bud is left empty and the larva carves out an axial gallery in the shoot.

Pupation takes place between two leaves and the first generation of adults appears in May-June.  Adult activity is crepuscular and they feed only on water.  The eggs are laid at the leaf base, stems and on the skin of the fruit.  Incubation lasts 10 to 15 days.

The larvae feed from birth by puncturing growing shoots or fruit, preferring the latter when they are changing colour and when the buds stop growing. The second generation emerges in July-August and there is a third one in September that produces the wintering larvae.

DETECTION AND MONITORING

1 to 2 traps should be set per hectare, placed at crop level. They can be placed on the trees or in a support for this purpose. The traps should be set at the beginning of August.

MASS TRAPPING

Mostly the males of this species are captured, in order to reduce the mating, so that non-copulated females will have unviable eggs. This reduces the pest population

To carry out mass trappings the number of traps per area should be increased depending on the location and homogeneity of the crops. One trap can control an area of between 1,000 and 2,000 m². This entails a trap density of 5 to 10 traps per hectare.

NECESSARY MATERIAL

A trap ECONEX WHITE TRIANGULAR without sheets (Code: TA118) or ECONEX DISPOSABLE WHITE TRIANGULAR (Code: TA242) and a pheromone diffuser ECONEX ANARSIA LINEATELLA 2 MG 40 DAYS.

The trap ECONEX WHITE TRIANGULAR without sheets is activated by placing an ECONEX SHEET FOR TRIANGULAR (Code: TA248) at the base of it. The sheet is impregnated with a pressure sensitive adhesive, solvent free, in which insects are trapped.  The trap ECONEX DISPOSABLE WHITE TRIANGULAR is coated on its inner face with a layer of contact adhesive, solvent free, for the retention of the insects.

Both traps stand out above all for their simplicity of use, and will be operative until pheromone depletion or saturation of the sheet or adhesive surface.

The pheromone diffuser is placed inside the trap on the sheet or adhesive surface.

PERIOD OF USE

To achieve good control of the Anarsia lineatella, it is advisable to combine the two methods: detection and monitoring and mass trapping.

In spring you can place 1 to 2 traps per hectare to detect the pest and observe the level of their populations.

Through established thresholds of tolerance in each area, the control measures are later defined, in this case mass trapping. The threshold of tolerance for Anarsia lineatella is very low and varies according to the area. Generally it is around 3 captures per trap and per week. Moment in which we recommend to set traps all over the crop for mass trappings.

DAMAGES

It mainly attacks peaches and nectarines, but also causes damages to almonds, apricots and plums. The damage is caused to the buds, shoots and fruits.

Damage to shoots is caused by the destruction of the tender shoots' internal tissues. The shoots wither but sprouting continues. As a result the damage is only significant in nurseries and plantations in training.

The damage to fruit is important because the fruit with worms rot are not marketable, with the added disadvantage that often the newborn larva penetrates the stalk cavity leaving a small hole that may go unnoticed on the sorting table and the rotten fruit could reach the market.

RESULTS

If technicians or farmers use the traps and pheromones as described here and when the first generation of adults emerges, then the effectiveness of this control system is very good, as proved by data from many organic farms. When large crop areas are covered, more than 95% of the pest is often controlled.

A factor limiting this system is where there are small farms surrounded by others plots with a high level of infestation of this pest.

Apart from some important basic rules in controlling Anarsia lineatella effectively, each farmer/technician should find his/her own system of achieving this and he/she may experiment with this system, even establishing his/her own tolerance thresholds.

FACTORS THAT INFLUENCE THE NUMBER OF TRAPS REQUIRED

Pest population, adjoining crops, level of control required, etc.

An important factor is crop size. In small and irregular sized crops a greater number of traps will be needed. Another important factor is the distance between crops with the same pest. In such cases the crop boundaries should be reinforced, so a trap density of about 20 traps per hectare may be needed.  More traps may be needed in the case of mass trappings

STORAGE OF THE DIFFUSERS

The diffusers must be kept in their original container and in a refrigerator at 4^oC, or in the freezer at -18^oC, in which case they will remain valid for 2 and 4 years respectively.