Ultraviolet traps for codling moths

[Nimzo]

In California, where I live, codling moths are a terrible problem.  Warm spring and fall weather allows as many as four or five generations of moths per growing season.  Left unhindered, they would infest every apple in my orchard.  I don't wish to use organophosphate pesticides.  Bagging is impractical, because I have too many apples to bag -- especially this year, when the crop is large.  I have tried granulosis virus (Cyd-X) and Surround, with only indifferent success. 

This year, along with Cyd-X, I am using a device called Dyna-Trap, which attracts the moths with ultraviolet light during the hours of darkness and inveigles them into a chamber from which they cannot escape.  They die of dehydration there.  I am catching large numbers of moths.  It is early in the growing season, but so far I have not noticed any moth strikes on my fruit. 

The manufacturer represents that the trap will not attract bees, butterflies or other beneficial insects, and so far that seems to be the case.  My traps are full of what look like codling moths.

Is anyone aware of any drawbacks in using traps of this sort?

Nimzo

[Cornelius Traas]

Hello Nimzo,

I had not heard of this trap before. Is this the one you have (https://dynatrap.com/store/dt2000xlp-insect-trap/)?

To answer your question, from what I read it appears to be non-specific, so may catch some beneficial organisms too (though luckily not bees according to the manufacturers). But remember there are many more beneficial insects you won’t see or won’t notice like parasitic wasps for instance.

It makes sense that if you have lots of codling, it will catch lots of codling. It would be interesting to get an entomologist to check what else is attracted to the light.

 

Cornelius Traas The Apple Farm, Moorstown,
Cahir,
Co. Tipperary, Ireland.

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[Nimzo]

Con:

Thanks for your response.  The model I'm using is this one:  https://dynatrap.com/store/dt1050-sonata/.  It is enough to cover my small backyard orchard.  A friend's son-in-law is an entomologist.  I'll ask him whether I am killing any beneficial insects -- but I'm not seeing anything other than codling moths in the trap.

My wife and I visited your apple farm some years ago and you gave us a tour.  We enjoyed some of your wonderful Karmijn de Sonnaville apple juice.  I remember asking you what you did to protect yourself against codling moths.  You said that it is not a big problem in Ireland, where the season is shorter and there are fewer generations of moths.  They are fierce here in California.

Best regards,

Nimzo

[Francis Bonenfant]

You can also use the low tech molasses trap method.

1. Acquire unsulfured molasses at a feed store. 
2. Get sturdy plastic bottles such as empty (cleaned) motor oil pints. Less sturdy like water bottles also works but will suffer UV damage/may last only a year. 

3. Drill or melt 3/8 inch holes in the bottle. 

4. Fill bottles with an inch and a half of 50/50 molasses/water mix. 
5. Hang bottles in productive trees (1 per productive tree, maybe more if you have large standards.)

This method is used at Miracle Farms permaculture orchard. We've tried it this year with 300 traps in 600 trees on 4 acres and it seems to be working.  On a small orchard (less than 50 trees) you could go all out and have one trap per branch in a few hours of work. This is from my orchard last week:

Be aware that these traps are fairly unselective and will catch all sorts of flies, beetles and ants. I haven't seen any bees in them though. If you have many thousand trees it will get time consuming. 

Francis B. 

[Nimzo]

Thanks, Francis.  I'll try it. 

Nimzo

[Francis Bonenfant]

If you can read french I highly recommend this guide.

http://nature-action.qc.ca/site/sites/default/files/pdf/Autres/NAQ_guide_pomiculture_PDF.pdf

It's a very good reference on biological and low inputs protection of apple trees. As always, the cheaper and "chemical spray free" solutions such as trapping involve more time and effort, but for a smallish orchard it's very reasonable, especially when your apple surface quality standard is "good enough for me" or "good enough for the cider press". 

Francis B. 

[goet...@gmail.com]

Any thoughts on how to get a translated copy? I’d LOVE to read it!!

[Claude Jolicoeur]

This is an excellent online translator - you paste your text and it will give the translation.
https://www.deepl.com/translator

[Francis Bonenfant]

The marvellous Stefan Sobkowiak of the permaculture orchard has created a video on these very same codling moth traps. It's worth a watch. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r3NH3X5liGw

[Olė Ersson]

Hi Nimzo,

The link you supplied https://dynatrap.com/store/dt1050-sonata/ no longer seems to work. What current new model do you suggest?

We have heard from some commercial apple growers that bug zappers have been effective in codling moth control so want to try this this season starting with apple bloom.

Although the model you describe is not really a zapper, it uses the same principle of UV light as a moth attractant, with another device (fan, chamber) to sequester the attracted moths.

We have used the 50/50 molasses traps and they have worked well at catching codling moths and very little else.

Their drawback is that they dry out within a week or two so require refreshing with water on a regular basis to keep them functional. If they are allowed to dry they form a dry cake at the bottom of the bottle that no longer is sticky, so they no longer trap the moths.

This year we have also tried enhanced hygiene in an attempt to remove the hibernaculums (dormant cocoons) in the duff under the tree to see if this could help eliminate them in their theorectically most vulnerable stage. The duff material under the tree was raked and hot composted.

We also tried applying about 4" of compost under the trees in an attempt to smother any emerging moths.

We have also heard that fencing chickens around apple/pear trees can help to eliminate any cocoons under the trees.

So, we continue tirelessly to achieve better control of this vexing pest.

Hoping you will have further input into this process!

Kindest regard,

Ole Ersson

Portland Oregon USA

[aplu...@gmail.com]

Ole: 

 

               Cyd-X is working for me.  Years ago, maybe one-half of my apples would have moth damage. Now it’s about 5% or less – and even those apples with bug damage don’t have live moths in them, because Cyd-X killed the caterpillars while they were boring their way into the fruit.  I still have my Dynatraps, but they are not catching any moths any more because I think Cyd-X has solved my problem.  Here’s where you can get Cyd-X:  https://www.groworganic.com/products/cyd-x-reg-codling-moth-virus-6-ounces.  It’s expensive, but the six-ounce container I bought has lasted me more than three years.

 

               By the way, my granddaughter is a freshman at the Univ. of Portland.  We love Portland!

 

Best of luck to you,

 

Nimzo (Alan Plutzik)

 

From: cider-w...@googlegroups.com <cider-w...@googlegroups.com> On Behalf Of Ole Ersson

Sent: Monday, February 12, 2024 12:23 PM
To: Cider Workshop <cider-w...@googlegroups.com>

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[Les Price]

I would stay away from bug zapers and the likes. These are really hard on your good moths and other insects (pollinators). 

It does depend on how many acres or trees you have and the layout of your orchard but I first started using mating disruption (isomate) 22 years ago when my orchard was only a little over 2 acres. It worked great and still works great now at 5.5 acres.

There is a lot of negativity out there as far as using MD on small acreage but I think that is overcome with common sense deployment of the dispensers.

I noticed in my organic practices that CM would slowly build up in population, I say slowly if I kept up with good sanitation and smashing any apples with stings I would come across. Still though the population would rise on an ever increasing bell curve so I determined a point to where i would deploy MD and after that year the curve would take a dive straight down.

Populations will slowly start to build again, of course, but it will be several years before the need for the next app of MD again.

I use the twist ties, buy them in a package of 500 at a time. They are super fast and easy to put on. Actually very cheap too compared to other organic control measures.

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[Wes Cherry]

Btw, a theory on the bug in bug wetware that causes them to fly to artificial light:

-'//es Cherry

Dragon's Head Cider

Vashon Island, Wa US

www.dragonsheadcider.com

On Feb 12, 2024, at 11:25 PM, Les Price <pugetsoun...@gmail.com> wrote:



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[Olė Ersson]

Hi Wes,

The twist ties for  MD sounds like a good idea. I'd like to try it instead of the UV light traps. I was not familiar with the twist tie disruptors. Where do you get them?

We have a rather small orchard, only 25 pear and apple trees on well less than an acre. What would you recommend for application requirements?

Thanks.

Ole

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[Les Price]

You can get them pretty much everywhere. Your local Ag supply, Amazon, Ebay, etc. You should probably Google Coddling moth mating disruption and read up on it. The science is so old now that the internet is full of info.

As far as the placement goes, when my orchard was smaller I just tried to extend the coverage by placing a lot of the dispensers around the orchard along the fence line and hedge rows. My orchard layout was a long rectangle of 8 rows 10' apart, 1200 trees total. So in addition to the perimeter placement I also placed the rest of the dispensers down the middle 2 rows.

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[Olė Ersson]

Hi Les,

Thanks again for your suggestions.

When I researched MD I came across info suggesting this method may not be the best for small orchards less than 5 acres as mating can occur away from the targeted area and then the mated females make their way to the orchard to lay eggs.

Here is an example of where this is warned:

• Size and location of orchards less than five acres or near a source of the pest (abandoned orchard, unmanaged trees, hosts nearby) may not obtain optimal results. Smaller size orchards increase the amount of edge with surrounding landscape and may increase the likelihood that mating will occur outside of the MD area and then attracting mated females back into the orchard to lay eggs on fruit

Regarding actual products, here is one I found on eBay:

https://www.ebay.com/itm/134592007142

Here is the product name: ISOMATE CM FLEX (Codling Moth Mating Disruption) - Contains 400 Dispensers. It costs $64 which seems reasonable for 400 dispensers. It features a twin-tube design is fast and easy to apply, not twist ties. But this sounds like what you are describing.

I wonder if you would mind commenting on this particular product and the idea that MD is less than ideal in small plantings like ours. (We have 29 trees in a fraction of an acre, and live in a moderately dense urban area with a scattering of apple trees in our neighborhood.)

I checked Amazon and could only find the delta traps with pheromones. No mating disruption products.

As for our plans, this year we will try CYD-X if we can figure out how to apply it to the trees. A neighbor and I are sharing the expense $169 between our plantings.

Kind regards,

Ole

[Olė Ersson]

Hi Nimzo,

A neighbor and I are planning on trying Cyd-X this year. He already purchased a 6 oz bottle that is good for 

If we can figure out how to apply it to the trees and how often it needs to be done in rainy Portland, Oregon!

There are great general instructions included in the web site that sells the product, like this one: https://www.groworganic.com/products/cyd-x-reg-codling-moth-virus-6-ounces

Can you say in a nutshell how you apply it to the trees and how often you repeat?

That is, what kind of sprayer you use to apply to the trees? That Cyd-X link suggested this sprayer: https://www.groworganic.com/products/solo-406us-economy-sprayer-2-gal?variant=21548650299505

Is that the kind of sprayer you use?

It also suggested spraying twice for each potential generation and gave degree days to time the first spray, which I presume will be shortly after the apples bloom. Although, if the first spray works well, there should not be much of a 2nd generation, would there?

Or perhaps you have a reference that explains more details than the General Instructions?

Kindest regards,

Ole

[Les Price]

I'm afraid I don't have any experience with the Cyd X. There always has been an evolving availability of organic sprays for lepidoptra with a lot of them very effective. 

When I first tried mating disruption, as I explained, I was going against the recommendations and every ones advice. Not only was I way less than 5 acres but I was a skinny rectangle. My entire orchard only 80' wide. This is where outside of the box thinking comes in.

Spreading the dispenser footprint out over a wider area.

Also one thing I forgot to mention. I also started going around to my neighbors and encouraging them to remove their apple trees. In my area most my neighbors have old fruit trees that are too big and too diseased and insect riddled to be of any use. They have always been very cooperative. I do supply a free box of fruit to most of my neighbors every year.

Another thing I didn't mention. Since I'm a u pick and most my customers come from the greater Seattle area, I constantly get questions about insect control. Coddling Moth and Apple Maggot are public enemy #1 around here so that's usually the question. I had a group up here of fairly well off people who were determined to solve their CM problem without spraying. They were all neighbors in a gaited community, large lots, tall privacy fences. Most of them had been customers of mine for many years and had taken recommendations of fruit trees to plant or had even bought some from me.

Now they all had CM so since, combined, they lived in a pretty spread out area, I suggested they might want to try mating disruption. They did a rough estimate and figured they had almost 1 acre total. They bought a bundle of ties and spread them out as far as they could, including other neighbors yards apparently. The results were dramatic according to them. I still see one of couples every year and they say they do the CM ritual every few years.

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[Alan Plutzik]

Ole:  I use the same exact sprayer for which you sent me a link.  I start spraying when the first blossoms fall, which for me would be some time in March.  Thereafter, I spray about once a month for the first three months or so, tapering off to every six weeks until the end of the season.  Your experience may differ from mine.  I live east of San Francisco, where, unlike in Portland, there is no rain from May through September.  I haven't found a source for any detailed instructions.  A commercial organic grower near me recommended Cyd-x.  I have used a trial and error approach.  Good luck!

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[Alan Plutzik]

By the way, I have a small backyard orchard of less than a quarter acre

On Thu, Feb 15, 2024, 4:24 PM Olė Ersson <ole.e...@gmail.com> wrote:

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[cghoe...@gmail.com]

Codling moth pesticide is expensive and so is the damage to the fruit.  Mating disruption aside, there’s a lot of home treatment vs conventional vs organic or some combination of those, so here’s some detailed info.  Take it, leave it…. 

The male CM finds the female CM by tracking her via her pheromones.  When they mate, the female looks for an acceptable fruit/nut tree to lay its eggs onto. The larva then crawls around to look for where to enter the fruit/nut.  Specifically during this larva crawl time is when larvicides including Cyd-X target the CM larva.  We have to have sufficient product on the leaves and apple during this time to kill or disrupt the larva before it enters the apple.  If we don’t have the product on the apples at the right time, then we missed the target and once inside the apple at best we have a "sting" and at worst it's game over for that apple.  Most home growers, and not all that long ago, commercial orchards used to put product on the tree every X days so that the CM lifecycle ran into the product.  This is low management and high input.  Now utilizing traps to capture data to feed into the models, we can predict with fairly-high accuracy when the CM will lay eggs and when the larva will be on the tree/apple so we can have the larvicide on the tree at the right time.  That’s high management and low input.  Also, I think Cyd-X is good for 1” of rain.  After 1" it’s considered washed off, so timing pre and post rain is also required.  Last, CM are pretty good flyers and are not necessarily coming from just your trees, so expecting to control later generations by controlling 1st generation CM with your treatment probably isn’t a good bet since it’s likely CM isn’t just living and mating in your trees.  If you really want to have the best chance of success , find a weather station near you and run the CM model off that weather station.  Then you can apply whatever you want at the right time.

Cheers

Chris