Development and Evaluation of a More Efficient Monitoring System for Apple Maggot (Diptera: Tephritidae)

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Abstract
A series of tests done in commercial and research apple (Malus domestica Borkh.) orchards during 1986-1988 evaluated different trap designs and treatment thresholds for apple maggot, Rhagoletis pomonella (Walsh). No difference in catch efficiency in unsprayed trees was observed among Ladd yellow-panel-plus-red-hemisphere traps, red wooden- sphere traps, and Olson sphere traps covered with standard, brush able, or diluted adhesive mixtures. Of 10 trap designs that we tested in 20 commercial orchards, all sphere traps baited with synthetic apple volatiles were more effective at catching apple maggot adults than were unbaited sphere traps, which caught more adults than did yellow-panel traps. In a test using the baited traps to time control sprays in commercial orchards, we achieved acceptable levels of control with a catch action threshold of eight adults per trap. With this threshold, 70% fewer sprays (2.8 fewer applications) were applied than in a calendar-based program. Trials in 16 blocks scouted by growers with baited traps and a threshold of five adults per trap for timing sprays resulted in 0.6 fewer applications and no difference in fruit infestation levels, compared with blocks sprayed according to the growers’ conventional schedules. Despite the use of a threshold of five adults per trap, which was chosen to be more conservative than that in the research trials, growers did not always follow the recommended treatment guidelines. The use of this trapping system has been incorporated into current commercial pesticide recommendations for New York apple growers.