ANOTHER LEAFFOOTED BUG IS ATTRACTED TO THE SAME PHEROMONE!!!

The leaffooted pine seed bug, Leptoglossus corculus , is a sucking insect that damages cones in pine seed orchards in the southern United States. Both adults and nymphs fed on seeds in cones of various pines, greatly reducing production of viable seed. There are several generations per year in the southern United States.

The leaffooted pine seed bug commonly attacks cones of loblolly (Pinus taeda L.), slash (Pinus elliottii Engelm.), shortleaf (Pinus echinata Mill.), Virginia (Pinus virginiana Mill.), eastern white (Pinus strobus L.), pitch (Pinus rigida Mill.) and Table Mountain (Pinus pungens Lamb.) pines, as well as cones of some spruce (Picea).

In a recent case study Leptoglossus pheromone traps were used  for a second year study in southeastern loblolly pine orchards. Leptoglossus lures were tested to see if they would attract Leptoglossus corculus, which is native to the eastern US. These are some of the top pests in pine seed orchards and can cause a lot of economic damage if not controlled.

We installed both baited and unbaited traps in 8 orchards from Texas to Virginia. Insect counts were made weekly and traps rebaited monthly from around June to October. All orchards had a significant difference between baited and unbaited traps as expected, so we consider them to be good monitoring tools for this species.

We did notice significant declines in collections from one week to one month after rebaiting. The graphs in the presentation show averaged weekly counts of about 10 traps, but it's easier to see this decline with individual trap data. We also collected pine cones from each of the trapped trees to perform radiographic seed analysis to quantify Leptoglossus feeding. I've attached one of those images below (mostly because it's cool to see!).

For this season, we are planning to compare sprayed and unsprayed blocks in pine orchards using AlphaScents baited traps. Our X-ray analysis has us worried that our spray regimes may not be as effective as orchard managers think. We work closely with many state and industry producers in the pine genetics sphere, and they are very eager to have tracking and management recommendations when it comes to this species.

 

 

 

 

South and Central America, Mexico, and Southwestern United States. HOSTS Nut crops, Almonds, Pistachios, Pomegranates, Oranges, Corn, Cotton, Eggplant, Peach, Pecan and Tomatoes.

Adults are present throughout the year. They Live over winter in surrounding fields of weeds or under bark of the trees and emerge in the spring. Female can live for over 70 days and males over 50 days. Bugs move from crop to crop over time, i.e. they start from almonds then move to pistachios and later to pomegranates. They can transmit pathogenic yeast Nematospora coryli on oranges causing fruit staining and premature drop and plant pathogen Herpetomonas macgheei, a trypanosomatid protozoan on other plants. Adults over winter live in protected areas – under tree bark, in animal nests, humane shelters and homes.

TRAP TO USE Yellow Panel Trap Yellow Panel Trap coated with Teflon.

Lure to USE: Western Leaffooted Bug Lure – Alpha Scents