Field and laboratory studies on sexual attractiveness of females of Prays citri (Mill.) (Lep., Yponomeutidae)

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Abstract
In laboratory experiments with Prays citri (Mill.) in Israel, females 1–16 h old proved more attractive to 2–6-day-old males than did female pupae 1–8 h before emergence or female adults 1–4-days old. Attractiveness in the field was tested by means of sticky traps baited with female pupae or adult females. Females were attractive for up to 14 days in summer (19–30°C) and 27 days in winter (8–20°C). Greatest attraction was shown by 1–7-day-old females during summer as compared with 5–9-day-old females during winter. Field experiments with baited sticky traps attached to wind vanes showed that more males were caught by traps aligned with the wind than by those placed at right-angles to it or hung among tree branches, by traps 1–7 m above ground than those 30–50 cm above, and by traps five metres distant from trees than those 10–80 m distant.