Lobesia botrana

Lobesia botrana (Denis and Schiffermüller)

Common name: European grapevine moth.

Geographical distribution: Mediterranean basin, Middle Europe, Southern Asia to Japan. CIE Map #70, 1974 (revised).

Host plants: Grapes and the fruits of apple, peach, pear, plum and many others.

Morphology: The adult is brown-green, about 6-7 mm long, its forewings green-yellow-grey, hindwings grey. Both pairs of wings with long fringes. The larva is greenish-brown, 10-12 mm long, its body is covered with small setae set on tubercles.

Life history: These nocturnal moths hide during day, feeding on various sugar-containing fluids and copulating in flight. Each female lays about 80-300 eggs, mostly singly on the buds, flowers or berries. The emerging larvae feed there and move within the bunch, each attacking several berries. When fully grown they pupate in hiding places between leaves, within bark crevices or even in the soil. In the Middle East the moth requires ca 600 day-degrees for a generation; fewer may be needed in the early generation, more in later ones. The threshold of development is 10.5ºC. Development requires about 4-5 weeks in the spring, less in summer, and the pest raises 3-4 annual generations in the Middle East. The last generation goes into winter diapause which is terminated next spring. Females attract males by a sex pheromone that is usually produced during the dark hours.

Economic importance: This polyphagous moth mainly damages grapes, but olives, pears, persimmon, pomegranate and roses may also be affected. The first-generation larvae feed on grape flower buds and flowers. Later larvae, especially those of the summer generation, invade several berries to feed therein and continuously secrete much webbing, which binds these plant parts together with the insects’ fecal pellets. Affected buds and flowers wilt whereas infested berries shrink and drop, leaving bare stalks. Even shallow nibbling on the berries can result in the invasion of mold fungi, causing further damage. Heavy attacks may result in yield losses from 40% (for table grapes) to 80% or more (for wine grapes). The longer the harvest lasts, the greater the damage. Damage is compounded by increased susceptibility to the grey mold, the fungus Botrytis cinerea Pers., and to the development of yeasts in the wounded berries. These attract fruit moths such as Cryptoblabes gnidiella and vinegar flies (such as Drosophila melanogaster which cause more injury.

Management

Monitoring: Pheromone traps amongst the vines during spring can serve as an early warning system, needed to determine the timing of control measures. The presence of the larvae within the bunches can later be recognized by silk webs that bind together bunches, flowers and buds.

Horticultural control: Table grapes that are trained along wire trellises are less attacked than wine grapes that are goblet-like pruned. Early varieties suffer less damage than late varieties.

Plant resistance: Early varieties, and/or those that blossom early, and those with sparse bunches, usually suffer less than late varieties, whose blossoming is prolonged, and those with densely-packed berries.

Mating disruption: Slow-release pheromone ropes (950/hectare) or dispensers (500/hectare) can control the pest during most of the season, but towards autumn this method becomes less effective. Some growers may not use mating disruption due to its high costs, as compared with that of chemical control.

Sterile insect technique: This approach is being explored in Israel.

Chemical control: Pyrethroids and are avermectins are often used, at times in a compound that also includes an Insect growth regulator (IGRs).

Biological control: In the Middle East the pest is attacked by parasitoids of the genus Trichogramma (Trichogrammatidae), which attack more than 25% of the moth population and result in significant crop increases. In Europe the parasitoid Campoplex capitator Aubert (Ichneumonidae) is very common, attacksing 20-50% of the pest’s larvae, and in Jordan Ascogaster quidridentata Wesmael (Braconidae) parasitized 44% of the pests. Various generalist predators (including birds) also attack the moth but none are known to reduce its economic damage. Dustings of Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) compounds provided better results in grape vines with loose, average and dense berry cluster compactnes, whereas spraying gave better results in compact cultivars. Such treatments, along with mating disruption, also provided good pest control.

References

Al-Zyoud, F. and Elmosa, H. 2001. Population dynamics of the grape berry moth Lobesia botrana Schiff. (Lep., Tortricidae) and its parasites in Jerash Area, Jordan. Dirasat, Agricultural Sciences 28: 6-13.

Akyol, B. and Aslan, M.M. 2010. Investigations on efficiency of mating disruption technique against the European grapevine moth (Lobesia botrana Den. Et. Schiff.) (Lepidoptera; Tortricidae) in vineyard, turkey. Journal of Animal and Veterinary Advances 9: 730-735.

Ben‐Yehuda, S., Izhar, Y., Wysoki, M. and Argaman, Q. 1993. The grape berry moth, Lobesia botrana Denis & Schiffermueller (Lepidoptera: Tortricidae), in pear orchards in Israel . International Journal of Pest Management 39: 149-151.

El-Wakeil, N.E., Farghaly, H.Th. and Ragab, Z.A. 2008. Efficacy of inundative releases of Trichogramma evanescens in controlling Lobesia botrana in vineyards in Egypt. Journal of Pest Science 81: 49–55.

Gordon, D., Zehavi, T., Anshelevich, L., Harel, M., Ovadia, S., Dunklblum, E. and Harari, E. 2005. Mating Disruption of _ Lobesia botrana_ (Lepidoptera: Tortricidae): effect of pheromone formulations and concentrations. Journal of Economic Entomology 98: 135-142.

Harari, A.R. (and 6 co-authors) 2007. Pest management programmes in vineyards using male mating disruption. Pest Management Science 63: 769-775.

Hosseinzadeh, J., Karimpour , Y. and Farazmand, H. 2011. Effect of lufox, on Lobesia botrana Den. & Schiff. (Lepidoptera: Tortricidae). Egyptian Academic Journal of Biological Sciences 3: 11-17.

Ifoulis, A.A. and Savopoulou-Soultani, M. 2004. Biological control of Lobesia botrana (Lepidoptera: Tortricidae) larvae by using different formulations of Bacillus thuringiensis in 11 vine cultivars under field conditions. Journal of Economic Entomology 97: 340-343.

Sengonca, C. and Leisse, N. 1989. Enhancement of the egg parasite Trichogramma semblidis (Auriv.) (Hym., Trichogrammatidae) for control of both grape vine moth species in the Ahr Valley. Journal of Applied Entomology 107: 41-45.

Steinitz, H., Sadeh, A., Kliot, A. and Harari, A. 2015. Effects of radiation on inherited sterility in the European grapevine moth (Lobesia botrana). Pest Management Science 71: 24–31.

Vassiliou, V.A. 2009. Control of Lobesia botrana (Lepidoptera: Tortricidae) in vineyards in Cyprus using the mating disruption technique. Crop Protection 28: 145–150.

Xuéreb, A. and Thiéry, D. 2006. Does natural larval parasitism of Lobesia botrana (Lepidoptera: Torticidae) vary between years, generation, density of the host and vine cultrivar? Bulletin of Entomological Research 96: 105-110.

Websites: https://www.google.co.il/search?q=lobesia+botrana&biw=1536&bih=836&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ved=0CBoQsARqFQoTCJX3zpmL2MgCFUI8FAodM7kMrg

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lobesia_botrana