Recent studies have shown that flies from sympatric populations of Rhagoletis pomonella infesting hawthorn, apple, and flowering dogwood fruit can distinguish among unique volatile blends identified from each host. Analysis of peripheral chemoreception in Rhagoletis flies suggests that changes in receptor specificity and/or receptor neuron sensitivity could impact olfactory preference among the...

Novel methods of data analysis were used to interpret codling moth (Cydia pomonella) catch data from central-trap, multiple-release experiments using a standard codlemone-baited monitoring trap in commercial apple orchards not under mating disruption. The main objectives were to determine consistency and reliability for measures of: 1) the trapping radius, composed of the trap's behaviorally ef...

The oriental fruit moth Grapholita molesta is one of the major pests of stone and pome fruit species in Brazil. Here, we applied 1226 SNPs obtained by genotyping-by-sequencing to test whether host species associations or other factors such as geographic distance structured populations of this pest. Populations from the main areas of occurrence of G. molesta were sampled principally from peach a...

Climate warming is expected to increase the exposure of insects to hot events (involving a few hours at extreme high temperatures). These events are unlikely to cause widespread mortality but may modify population dynamics via impacting life history traits such as adult fecundity and egg hatching. These effects and their potential impact on population predictions are still largely unknown. In t...

The effect of neonicotinyl insecticides on integrated mite control in Washington apple was examined from 0 In a series of 20 field trials (54 treatments) designed primarily to look at efficacy against the codling moth, Cydia pomonella, nearly half of the treatments using four or more applications of acetamiprid had peak mite densities exceeding the economic threshold of 5 mites per leaf. Overal...

Olfaction and gustation play critical roles in the life history of insects, mediating vital behaviors such as food, mate and host seeking. Chemosensory receptor proteins, including odorant receptors (ORs), gustatory receptors (GRs) and ionotropic receptors (IRs) function to interface the insect with its chemical environment. Codling moth, Cydia pomonella, is a worldwide pest of apple, pear and ...

Two insecticide formulations containing the naturalyte insecticide spinosad, GF-120 Fruit Fly Bait and SpinTor 2 SC, were compared for control of apple maggot, Rhagoletis pomonella (Walsh), and blueberry maggot, Rhagoletis mendax Curran. In 2002 and 2003, larval infestation in blueberries and apples was significantly lower in plots treated with GF-120 (spinosad bait) or SpinTor than in untreate...

Hybridization may be an important process interjecting variation into insect populations enabling host plant shifts and the origin of new economic pests. Here, we examine whether hybridization between the native snowberry-infesting fruit fly Rhagoletis zephyria (Snow) and the introduced quarantine pest R. pomonella (Walsh) is occurring and may aid the spread of the latter into more arid commerc...