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New Zealand apple exports must meet strict phytosanitary measures to eliminate codling moth (Cydia pomonella Linnaeus) (Lepidoptera: Tortricidae) larval infestation. This study was part of a program attempting the localized eradication of codling moth within an isolated cluster of seven orchards (391 ha). A conventional management program of insecticide sprays and pheromone mating disruption was supplemented with weekly releases of sterile moths for 1–6 yr. Our objective was to compare the recapture rate of sterile moths following their release by four methods, and the efficiency of each system. The methods were the following: a fixed-wing unmanned plane flying ∼40–45 m high at 70 km/h, an unmanned hexacopter travelling 20 m high at 25 km/h, and manually from the ground via bicycles or motor vehicles. The different release methods were used in different years or weeks. Sterile male moths were recaptured in grids of pheromone traps positioned throughout each orchard. The highest recapture rate followed delivery by hexacopter, then bicycle, vehicle, and plane. There was a 17-fold difference in catches between releases by hexacopter and plane, and sixfold between vehicle and plane in the same season. Bicycle delivery had a 3.5-fold higher recapture rate than the plane in different years. The wind-borne horizontal drift of moths was investigated as a possible explanation for the disparity of recaptures between the two aircraft delivery systems. The methods in ascending order of time per hectare for delivery were the following: plane and vehicle, hexacopter, then bicycle. The advantages and disadvantages of each moth delivery method are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Three leafroller species were monitored between 1976 and 2016 by bait and pheromone trapping for adults, larval damage to apples and timed searches on various hosts. Populations of all three species decreased substantially; however, the endemic Planotortrix octo and Ctenopseustis obliquana declined to a much greater extent than did the introduced Epiphyas postvittana. The two endemic species dominated in the 1970s, whereas they are now rarely found on fruit crops. Epiphyas postvittana has now become the principal leafroller species. Leafrollers damaged over 20% of apples receiving no insecticides during the 1980s but, subsequent to 2000, damage has been below 2%. Between 1994–1999 and 2008–2011, the numbers of immature leafrollers in searches on fruit crop and noncrop hosts decreased by 55%. We attribute reduced leafroller populations to increased biological control and changes to insecticide programmes. Several parasitoids were introduced around 1980 and parasitism increased by 19% between 1994–1999 and 2008–2011. Replacing broad‐spectrum insecticides with selective insecticides in the mid‐1990s likely enhanced this trend. Leafrollers were formerly major pests, whereas their status has now changed to being minor pests. Today, they are uncommon on managed and unmanaged fruit crops and noncrop host plants on orchards and vineyards in Hawke's Bay. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

New Zealand's major fruit industries are dependent upon producing high-quality crops for export with a very low incidence of pest damage. Light brown apple moth was an economically important pest within the fruit sector in the 1960s through the 1980s, and it developed resistance to broad-spectrum insecticides. The increase in its pest status focused research on biological control, and existing native natural enemies were augmented with new introductions from Australia in the late 1960s. By the early 1990s, this effort resulted in substantially reduced leafroller populations and fruit damage. The implementation of integrated pest management (IPM) programs in the New Zealand fruit sector in the mid- to late 1990s practically eliminated the use of broad-spectrum organophosphate insecticides, further enhancing natural control. Today light brown apple moth is successfully managed in IPM and organic programs through a combination of biological control and threshold-based applications of selective insecticides. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The global market for total organic product sales was $20 billion in 2005, continuing an annual growth rate of 20% to 35%. In the United States, there were 937,000 ha of certified organic land in 2003 with 5626 ha of organic apples [Malus sylvestris (L.) Mill var. domestica (Borkh.) Mansf.]. Increases in organic fruit production have been associated with improved pest management methods, the use of disease-resistant cultivars, and organic-focused marketing schemes. Often constrained by lower apple yields and smaller fruit size compared with conventional counterparts, key challenges for organic growers include regulation of nutrient cycling processes to maintain crop yields while minimizing the need for external inputs. In local or regional organic markets, disease-resistant apple cultivars, such as 'Enterprise', 'Liberty', 'Redfree', and 'Gold Rush', have gained increased acceptance, whereas exporting countries have continued their use of cultivars susceptible to scab [ Venturia inaequalis (Cooke)]. Integrated insect pest management approaches, including the use of kaolin clay, codling moth granulosis virus, and. spinosad-based insecticides, have been successfully developed to comply with export standards and quarantines, and to meet market demand. Key pests, such as codling moth |Cydia pomonella (L.)], have been managed at damage levels less than 5% using these approaches. Future pest management strategies in organic apple production will focus on development of scab-resistant cultivars with enhanced storage capability and reduction in inputs associated with negative environmental and health effects. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

By 2003, organic apple [Malus sylvestris (L.) Mill var. domestica (Borkh.) Mansf.] production had increased to 5626 ha in the United States and to 2964 ha in New Zealand by 2002. Common problems facing organic apple growers in the humid regions of New Zealand and the United States include effective management strategies for apple scab [Venturia inaequalis (Cooke)] and insect pests. Experiments conducted in Iowa in 2003-2004 demonstrated the effectiveness of a kaolin clay- and spinosad-based insecticide program in maintaining codling moth [Cydia pomonella (L.)] damage levels to less than 5% in the scab-resistant cultivars Enterprise, Liberty, Redfree, and Gold Rush. Similar pest management systems have been developed in New Zealand to comply with export standards and quarantines. The use of codling moth granulosis virus and a spinosad-based insecticide have led to reduced pest pressure and to an increase in organic exports with a 41% premium price over conventional apples. However, an association between spinosad use and woolly apple aphid [Eriosoma lanigerum (Hausmann)] population increase was observed in organic orchard surveys in 2006. An alternative to spinosad applications, insect disinfestation through controlled atmosphere (CA) treatment, was investigated to control quarantined pests and to extend the storage potential of scab-resistant cultivars. A CA treatment of 9 weeks of 2% O2 and 2% CO2 at 0.5 °C was determined to maintain firmness ratings to export standards in CA-stored, scab-resistant 'Pinkie' apples and to decrease internal ethylene concentration by 84% compared with apples stored in air. In addition, new scab-resistant cultivars with 'Pinkie' background under development in New Zealand show promise for organic production in humid regions. Few fruit quality differences were determined between 'Pinkie' fruits from integrated fruit production and organic production systems, although premium prices exist only for certified organic apples. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Codling moth, Cydia pomonella (Lepidoptera: Tortricidae), is a phytosanitary pest of New Zealand's export apples. The sterile insect technique supplements other controls in an eradication attempt at an isolated group of orchards in Hawke's Bay, New Zealand. There has been no attempt in New Zealand to characterize potential sources of uncontrolled peri-urban populations, which we predicted to be larger than in managed orchards. We installed 200 pheromone traps across Hastings city, which averaged 0.32 moths/trap/week. We also mapped host trees around the pilot eradication orchards and installed 28 traps in rural Ongaonga, which averaged 0.59 moths/trap/week. In Hastings, traps in host trees caught significantly more males than traps in non-host trees, and spatial interpolation showed evidence of spatial clustering. Traps in orchards operating the most stringent codling moth management averaged half the catch rate of Hastings peri-urban traps. Orchards with less rigorous moth control had a 5-fold higher trap catch rate. We conclude that peri-urban populations are significant and ubiquitous, and that special measures to reduce pest prevalence are needed to achieve area-wide suppression and reduce the risk of immigration into export orchards. Because the location of all host trees in Hastings is not known, it could be more cost-effectively assumed that hosts are ubiquitous across the city and the area treated accordingly.

This review describes the New Zealand apple industry's progression from 1960s integrated pest control research to today's comprehensive integrated pest management system. With the exception of integrated mite control implemented during the 1980s, pest control on apple crops was dominated by intensive organophosphate insecticide regimes to control tortricid leafrollers. Multiple pest resistances to these insecticides by the 1990s, and increasing consumer demand for lower pesticide residues on fruit, led to the implementation of integrated fruit production. This substantially eliminated organophosphate insecticide use by 2001, replacing it with pest monitoring systems, threshold-based selective insecticides, and biological control. More recently, new demands for ultralow-residue fruit have increased the adoption of mating disruption and use of biological insecticides. Widespread adoption of selective pest management has substantially reduced the status of previously important pests, including leafrollers, mealybugs, leafhoppers, and mites for improved phytosanitary performance, and contributed to major reductions in total insecticide use.

Background: Apple leaf midge, Dasineura mali (Kieffer), poses quarantine issues for some apple export markets because larvae occasionally pupate in the stem end and calyx of fruit. Pheromone-baited oil-filled containers were used in 1 ha orchard plots to trap adult male D. mali in order to test the potential for mass trapping to reduce populations., Results: Mass-trapped plots had 97% fewer adult males in pheromone traps and 48% fewer larvae per shoot in the second D. mali generation compared with untreated areas. Oil traps caught on average 900 000 D. mali per plot over 11 weeks during the second and third generations. Catches averaged 9200 per trap at plot corners. By comparison, catches were 51% lower 10-25 m away along borders, 80% lower at the midpoint of borders and 95% lower >7 m from plot edges. Fruit infestation was low (four out of 8000 apples)., Conclusion: The attractiveness of the pheromone, monophagous habit and low mobility of D. mali enhance the prospects for successful mass trapping. Countering this are high populations, multivoltinism and aspects of mating behaviour. Mass trapping would probably have been more effective had it been in place season long and conducted over successive years. It needs refinements and more study before becoming a feasible control option for D. mali., (© 2014 Society of Chemical Industry.)