Testing of various options for the formulation of synthetic pheromone of Operophtera brumata (L.)

Abstract

Common winter moth Operophtera brumata (Linnaeus, 1758) is a dangerous pest of forest plantations and fruit trees, common in the northwestern part of the Russian Federation, in Moldova, Siberia, Central Asia, and the Caucasus. To control the moth, chemical, mechanical and biological methods are used, an important component of which is the timely identification and monitoring of the number of this pest. An indispensable tool for this is pheromone traps, which use dispensers with the sex moth pheromone (Z, Z, Z)-l,3,6,9-nonadecatetraene, synthesized in the pheromone synthesis department of FGBU “VNIIKR” according to the developed method. The active substance, pheromone, was applied to dispensers in a mixture with stabilizers – vitamin E and ionol.
This paper presents the results of field tests of various variants of glue pheromone traps with synthetic pheromone in two different dosages – 0.5 mg (mixture I) and 2.0 mg (mixture II) – per 1 dispenser. It was shown that mixture II was more effective than mixture I only in quantitative terms, but not in terms of the duration of the attractive action, which turned out to be the same for both options. Thus, when using pheromone traps, a 4-fold increase in the dosage of synthetic pheromone cannot be considered mandatory. It has been established that the rhomboid trap provides more effective pest trapping due to the greater closed structure in comparison with the Quadro trap, as well as with the deltoid trap in its various modifications. The advantage of entomological glue when used as a solvent for mineral oils (Polyfix glue) in comparison with water-mineral based glue (Uniflex glue) has been proved. 
The developed pheromone preparation can be used to identify the pest and monitor the abundance of the common winter moth.