Efficacy of a new sepiolite pheromone dispenser for the controlof California red scale populations on citrus

Abstract: A new sepiolite pheromone dispenser developed by Centro de Ecología QuímicaAgricola of Insituto Agroforestal del Mediterráneo, Universidad Politécnica de Valencia andEcología y Protección Agrícola S.L. for controlling California Red Scale, Aonidiella aurantii(Maskell), populations has been evaluated by Syngenta in field studies during 2009 and 2010seasons in Spain as mating disruption technology.400 to 600 dispensers loaded with 70mg of synthetic A. aurantii sexual pheromone per unitwere installed at the beginning of the first male flight of the pest. The efficacy level was assessedin comparison with an untreated control, a reference product (mineral oil at the beginning ofcrawler migration), and with the combination of pheromone and foliar applications of mineral oil.The results of these experiments indicated that the plots protected with the pheromonedispensers had a reduction of male captures in the monitoring flight traps and a significant lowerlevel of fruit damage in comparison to the unprotected plots. The fruit protection wassignificantly superior to the mineral oil spray applications in most of the trials. The best level ofprotection was achieved when combining this matting disruption technology with the mineral oilspray applications, especially in the orchards with higher levels of infestation.During 2011, a large set of trials has been placed with the objective of confirming the resultsof previous years and assess the compatibility with the biological control agent (Aphytis melinus).