Twenty-five Years of Research Experience with the Sterile Insect Technique and Area-Wide Management of Codling Moth, (L.), in Canada.

The advent of novel genetic methods has led to renewed interest in the sterile insect technique (SIT) for management of insect pests, owing to applications in mass rearing and in the production of sterile offspring without use of irradiation. An area-wide management programme for codling moth, , has employed the SIT and other management practices over a large area (3395 to 7331 ha) of orchards and neighbouring urban, public, or First Nations lands in British Columbia, Canada, for 25 years. This project is the first to employ the SIT for , and the longest-running application of area-wide techniques for its control, anywhere.

Spatial Analysis of Seasonal Dynamics and Overwintering of Drosophila suzukii (Diptera: Drosophilidae) in the Okanagan-Columbia Basin, 2010-2014.

Spotted wing drosophila, Drosophila suzukii (Matsumura) (Diptera: Drosophilidae), was monitored from 2010 to 2014 in 314-828 sites located in interior fruit-growing regions of OR and WA, United States, and BC, Canada, using traps baited with apple cider vinegar or sugar-water-yeast. Seasonal population dynamics and sex ratios were summarized for berry, cherry, stone fruit, grape, non-crop host plants, non-host sites, and for conventional IPM, certified organic, backyard, and feral sites, by region and year. Overwintering was detected in all regions and years, despite winter temperatures below -17°C.

Laboratory-based toxicological assessments of new insecticides on mortality and fecundity of Neoseiulus fallacis (Acari: Phytoseiidae).

Neoseiulus fallacis (Garman) is one of the most abundant predatory phytoseid in deciduous fruit orchards under an integrated pest management (IPM) regimen in eastern North America. Laboratory studies using N. fallacis, and the 'modified excised leaf disc method' identified four insecticides out of six, that would require second-tier field studies before inclusion in an IPM program for deciduous orchards.

A laboratory assessment of the toxic attributes of six 'reduced risk insecticides' on Galendromus occidentalis (Acari: Phytoseiidae).

The modified excised leaf disc method was used to measure the effects of six insecticides on eggs, larvae, adults, and female fecundity of Galendromus occidentalis (Nesbitt) in a 'worst case laboratory exposure'. This study identified insecticides that would be recommended for tier II field evaluations for an integrated pest management program. Commercially formulated insecticides were applied with a thin-layer chromatography sprayer adjusted to 10.

Effect of the width of the herbicide strip on mite dynamics in apple orchards.

Herbicide strips are used in apple orchards to promote tree growth and survival, to increase yield and to reduce the risk of rodent damage to tree bark. However, herbicide strips, particularly wider ones, may cause problems including soil erosion, reduced organic matter, leaching of nitrates into ground water and increased incidence of plant diseases and pests, including two-spotted spider mites, Tetranychus urticae Koch. In this 2 year study we monitored mite dynamics in apple trees and used sticky bands on tree trunks to determine rates of T.

Effects of six selected orchard insecticides on Neoseiulus fallacis (Acari: Phytoseiidae) in the laboratory.

Background: Neoseiulus fallacis (Garman) is a key predator of tetranychid mites in integrated pest management (IPM) programs across Canada. This study identified compounds that would be recommended for tier-II field evaluations in an IPM program.

Results: The overall egg mortality caused by the six insecticides was negligible as it extended from 0 to 12.

Susceptibility of preimaginal western cherry fruit fly, Rhagoletis indifferens (Diptera: Tephritidae) to Beauveria bassiana (Balsamo) Vuillemin Clavicipitaceae (Hypocreales).

Last-instar larvae of the western cherry fruit fly, Rhagoletis indifferens, were subjected to Beauveria bassiana GHA incorporated into sterile sand and non-sterile orchard soil. Mycosis in the pupal stage was observed in >20% of buried R. indifferens pupae and >80% of larvae entering sand treated with either of two B.

Influence of habitat structure and resource availability on the movements of Rhagoletis indifferens (Diptera: Tephritidae).

Habitat structure and resources availability may differentially influence movement between habitat patches. We examined fly movement decisions (stay or leave) at the scale of individual trees by measuring the response of marked Rhagoletis indifferens (Diptera: Tephritidae) to sweet cherry trees (Prunus avium) that were manipulated by changing the shape of the tree (structure treatment = normal or reduced) and the fruit load (fruit treatment = augmented, normal, or reduced). More than 600 observations were made at two field sites that differed in the average inter-tree distance: Senger site, 10.

Effect of seven new orchard pesticides on Galendromus occidentalis in laboratory studies.

Background: Biological control of phytophagous mites in orchards requires that pesticides used to manage other arthropod pests or diseases are harmless to predacious mites, as these are essential to keep phytophagous mites at non-injurious population levels. This study evaluates the possible toxic attributes of acetamiprid, imidacloprid, thiacloprid, thiamethoxam, spirodiclofen, spinosad and methoxyfenoxide currently used in western Canadian orchards.

Results: None of these pesticides has any ovicidal properties against Galendromus occidentalis (Nesbitt).

Phytotoxicity of GF-120 NF Naturalyte fruit fly bait carrier on sweet cherry (Prunus avium L.) foliage.

Background: Six sweet cherry (Prunus avium L.) cultivars were tested with GF-120 with spinosad (0.2 g L(-1) spinosad bait) or without it (blank bait) to understand leaf phytotoxicity observed in the field.

Toxicity of six novel fungicides and sulphur to Galendromus occidentalis (Acari: Phytoseiidae).

A laboratory evaluation of fenbuconazole, myclobutanil propiconazole, boscalid, fenhexamid and pyraclostrobin revealed these fungicides to be harmless to adult Galendromus occidentalis. None of these fungicides affected adversely fecundity and egg viability. Elemental sulphur also had no effect on adults and fecundity.

Mating rates between sterile and wild codling moths (Cydia pomonella) in springtime: a simulation study.

The sterile insect technique (SIT) can be a powerful method for pest control without the negative environmental effects of conventional pesticides. The goal is to induce pest population collapse by arranging conditions where wild females mate only with sterile males and thus do not produce offspring. In applying the SIT, it can be important to understand both how subtle alterations of sterile and wild insect behaviour alter the effectiveness of the SIT in different applications, and how this is reflected in the data gathered through associated monitoring devices, often pheromone traps.

Some effects of pre-release host-plant on the biological control of Panonychus ulmi by the predatory mite Amblyseius fallacis.

Amblyseius fallacis Garman has been selected for pyrethroid resistance and mass reared for experimental release as a biological control agent for tetranychid mites on a number of crops in Canada. Several releases of this predator onto apple and peach trees have failed to result in the establishment of A. fallacis, or in the biological control of Panonychus ulmi Koch.

Assessment of Amblyseius fallacis (Acari: Phytoseiidae) for biological control of tetranychid mites in an Ontario peach orchard.

We introduced a mass-reared pyrethroid-resistant strain of the predatory phytoseiid mite Amblyseius fallacis (Garman) into an Ontario peach orchard in an attempt to control populations of the phytophagous mites Panonychus ulmi Koch and Tetranychus urticae Koch (Acari: Tetranychidae). Releases of 1,000 and 2,000 mites per tree were made, at three different times. The release of 2,000 mites per tree in June and in July resulted in significantly higher phytoseiid densities than was observed on control trees.

Microsatellite sequences are under-represented in two mite genomes.

Microsatellites are known to be a common feature of eukaryote genomes. Here we investigate the presence of microsatellite sequences in the genome of two mite species, Tetranychus urticae and Amblyseius fallacis, based on screening of both mite genomic libraries and Southern blots of these mites that we compare to two vertebrates. No signal with GT15 or a faint smear with CT10 were obtained in Southern analysis for the two mites, whereas both probes strongly bound with vertebrate DNA.

Response of male eye-spotted bud moth,Spilonota ocellana (Lepidoptera: Tortricidae), to different pheromone blends in north America and The Netherlands.

Response of male eye-spotted bud moth,Spilonota ocellana (Denis and Schiffermüller), to different ratios of synthetic sex pheromone components, (Z)-8-tetradecenyl acetate (Z8-14:OAc) and (Z)-8-tetradecenyl alcohol (Z8-14:OH), were compared in four North American locations and in one location in The Netherlands. In British Columbia, Nova Scotia, Michigan, and The Netherlands, a 99:1 blend ofZ8-14:OAc andZ8-14:OH captured significantly more maleS. ocellana thanZ8-14:OAc alone or binary blends containing 10-50%Z8-14:OH.