Impact of pheromone trap design placement and pheromone blend on catch of potato tuber moth

Abstract

Potato tuber moth (Phthorimaea operculella (Zeller)) (PTM) is an important pest of potatoes in New Zealand Pheromone traps are used to monitor potato tuber moth populations in the field to help time insecticide applications Two experiments assessed the effect of pheromone blend trap design and trap height on the capture of potato tuber moths Water traps caught the most moths per day but took longer to service DeSIRe sticky traps (deltashaped) caught more moths than Atrap sticky traps (cylindershaped) and funnel traps The 11 and 115 pheromone blends caught more moths than the 14 blend Trap height had no significant effect on moth catch It is concluded that the DeSIRe sticky trap is the most suitable for commercial use The 115 pheromone blend is recommended for commercial use as it is increasingly being used in New Zealand and overseas