IPM : Publications : 1999 Annual Report : Pests in Apples

1999 Integrated Pest Management Annual Report

Pests in Apples

IPM minigrants that have supported the Illinois Fruit and Vegetable News (newsletter) over the past few years have included funding for fruit insect pheromone trapping efforts.

These efforts have helped to demonstrate the value of regular monitoring, and they have provided up-to-date information for the newsletter. In 1997 and 1998, orchard visits associated with the trapping program led to the discovery of two ?new? insect problems in southern Illinois orchards.

In one apple orchard in Madison County in southwestern Illinois, the ribbed cocoon maker, Bucculatrix pomifoliella Clemens (Lepidoptera: Lyonetiidae), caused serious defoliation in 1997 and 1998. The first-stage larva of this small moth mines leaves (tunneling between the upper and lower surfaces), then exits and spins a silken molting cocoon on the upper surface of the leaf. Later stages feed externally on the upper surfaces of leaves; only the lower epidermis of the leaf remains intact. Larvae pupate in silken cocoons that are longitudinally corrugated or ribbed. At least three generations developed in southwestern Illinois in 1998.

This insect was described as a pest of apples in 1860, but it had virtually disappeared since the first use of synthetic insecticides in apples.

Ribbed cocoon maker larvae first mine or tunnel within leaves, then exit and spin molting cocoons.

Older larvae feed on the upper surface of leaves, skeletonizing the foliage.

Bucculatrix larvae pupate within cocoons that are longitudinally corrugated or ribbed — hence the name, ribbed cocoon makers.

The recently monitored infestation occurred in a managed orchard that received regular applications of organophosphate insecticides, causing the suspicion that this population may have developed resistance to Guthion (azinphosmethyl) and Imidan (phosmet). Detailed studies on the biology and management of this insect are planned for 1999.

In addition, the tufted apple bud moth, Platnota ideaeusalis (Walker) (Lepidoptera: Tortricidae), caused serious damage to fruit just before harvest in at least one location in Union County in far southern Illinois in 1998. Although this insect is a common and serious pest in states to the east of Illinois, it has not caused notable losses here. It, too, occurred in a managed orchard, and there is concern that organophosphate resistance (common in this species in eastern states) may be the reason for the outbreak we observed. Growers in this area were advised to modify their insecticide choices to control this insect in 1999.

Damage to apple leaves caused by
the larvae of the ribbed cocoon maker.

Contact:

Rick Weinzierl, weinzier@uiuc.edu,
Crop Sciences

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