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Annual flight activity of Dioryctria mendacella (Lepidoptera: Pyralidae) in southern Portugal

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Abstract

The pine cone moth, Dioryctria mendacella, is one of the most important pests affecting cones of Mediterranean pines in southern Europe. The larvae cause damages to cone tissues and seeds, but despite its pest status, the biology of D. mendacella is largely unknown, specifically the seasonal flight activity of the adults. To overcome this, we studied the annual flight activity of D. mendacella in southern Portugal with traps baited with the sex pheromone. Fifteen white delta sticky traps were placed on the lower branches of grafted Pinus pinea trees, and pyralid moths were collected weekly for one year. We captured a total of 3.555 individuals, corresponding to a flight period from February to early December. Initial captures were relatively low but subsequently increased during the summer and early autumn months, and peaking in September. However, no captures occurred from early December to late February. Multiple regression analysis detected a positive and significant correlation between moth captures and temperatures at dusk, suggesting a dominant twilight/nocturnal flight activity for D. mendacella. Overall, we conclude that Delta traps baited with the sexual pheromone are effective in capturing adult moths of D. mendacella throughout the year, and our results suggest the occurrence of two (or more) annual generations for this pest, supporting similar inferences from other studies. The use of traps baited with sex-pheromones is a new tool for the development of integrated pest management strategies against D. mendacella, offering also the possibility of studying in detail the biology and population dynamics of this pest.

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Data availability

The datasets generated during and/or analysed during the current study are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request.

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Acknowledgements

We would like to thank the proprietaries of Herdade da Abegoaria (Canha), namely Mrs Mónica Soares and Mr João Soares, for allowing the studies to be conducted on the Estate and for their continuous logistic support throughout the year. We would also like to thank Pherobank BV company (The Netherlands), in the person of Mr Frans Griepink, for kindly supplying the “Dioryctria mendacella” pheromone attractants, and to Bárbara Machado (Florgénese) for providing the Delta traps. We also acknowledge Drª Alexandra Correia (INIAV) for providing the local climatic data for analysis, and Drª Ana Dias (FCUL, Lisboa) and Dr. Seth Davies (University of Colorado, USA) for critical comments on an earlier version of the manuscript. Funding was provided by the Operational Group “Gestão integrada de agentes bióticos associados à perda de produção do pinhão—+PINHÃO, PDR2020-101-031185”, and by the Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia (Portugal) through the R&D Unit UIDB/04551/2020 GREEN-IT—Bioresources for Sustainability.

Funding

This study was funded by the Operational Group “Gestão integrada de agentes bióticos associados à perda de produção do pinhão—+ PINHÃO, PDR2020-101–031185”, and by the Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia (Portugal) through the R&D Unit UIDB/04551/2020 GREEN-IT—Bioresources for Sustainability.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Instituto Nacional de Investigação Agrária E Veterinária, I.P. (INIAV), Av. da República, Quinta Do Marquês, 2780-157, Oeiras, Portugal

    Pedro Naves, Filomena Nóbrega & Edmundo de Sousa

  2. GREEN-IT Bioresources for Sustainability, ITQB NOVA, Av. da República, Quinta Do Marquês, 2780-157, Oeiras, Portugal

    Pedro Naves & Edmundo de Sousa

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  1. Pedro Naves
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  2. Filomena Nóbrega
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  3. Edmundo de Sousa
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Contributions

Pedro Naves and Edmundo de Sousa prepared the field trials, Pedro Naves conducted the field trials and identified the insects, Filomena Nóbrega made the molecular analyses, Pedro Naves, Filomena Nóbrega and Edmundo Sousa wrote the manuscript text, Pedro Naves prepared the figures. All authors reviewed the manuscript.

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Correspondence to Pedro Naves.

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Naves, P., Nóbrega, F. & de Sousa, E. Annual flight activity of Dioryctria mendacella (Lepidoptera: Pyralidae) in southern Portugal. Phytoparasitica 51, 41–48 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12600-022-01036-9

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