Thrips were sampled from six nectarine orchards in the Dry Central Interior, British Columbia, Canada, between April and June 1993 using yellow sticky cards on posts spaced around the perimeter of each orchard. Although 12 identified species of thrips were captured, >90% of individuals were the western flower thrips, Frankliniella occidentalis (Pergande). The flight patterns and abundances of w...

Taylor's Power Law was fit to Tylenchulus semipenetrans population data obtained from individual trees in a survey of 50 Florida citrus orchards (geographic survey) and to data from individual trees within a single orchard collected at regular intervals for 2 years (temporal survey). No significant differences were detected between slope or intercept values when log variance was regressed again...

Field studies were conducted from 1992 to 1996 to select the most effective sex pheromone blend for mating disruption of the obliquebanded leafroller, Choristoneura rosaceana (Harris), in tree fruit orchards in Washington. Dispensers loaded with a 2-component pheromone blend, (Z)-1l-tetradecen-1-yl (Zll-14:0Ac) and (E)-1l-tetradecen-1-yl (Ell-14:0Ac), a 3-component blend that included the addit...

Remote sensing techniques can decrease pest monitoring costs in orchards. To evaluate the feasibility of detecting spider mite damage in orchards, we measured visible and near infrared reflectance of 1153 leaves and 392 canopies in 11 peach orchards in California. Pairs of significant wavelengths, identified by Partial Least Squares regression, were combined into normalized difference indices. ...

The European earwig (Forficula auricularia) is potentially a predator of a number of insect pests in apple orchards. However, its effectiveness as a natural enemy in apple orchards may be compromised by insecticide sprays. A laboratory bioassay of eight insecticides currently used in Integrated Fruit Production (IFP) apple orchards and one as-yet unregistered product was undertaken to determine...

Doster, M. A., Cotty, P. J., and Michailides, T. J. 2014. Evaluation of the atoxigenic Aspergillus flavus strain AF36 in pistachio orchards. Plant Dis. 98:948-956. The atoxigenic strain Aspergillus flavus AF36, which has been extensively used as a biocontrol agent in commercial corn and cotton fields to reduce aflatoxin contamination, was applied in research pistachio orchards from 2002 to 2005...

We studied the timing of reproductive maturity of cherry fruit fly, Rhagoletis cingulata (Loew), a key pest of sweet and tart cherries in the eastern United States. To determine when cherry fruit fly females become reproductively mature in managed and natural habitats, we deployed traps in sweet and tart cherry orchards and nearby stands of the ancestral host tree, black cherry. Flies were remo...

In New York State, a large number of both native and introduced insect and mite species attack apples grown in commercial apple orchards. Control of this pest complex is particularly challenging, because unlike the more arid apple production regions on the West Coast, apple orchards in N.Y. are commonly in close proximity to semi-wooded areas having an abundance of wild apple and hawthorn speci...

Most citrus and avocado water-use studies have been conducted in inland orchards; however, orchards located in coastal areas are subject to cooler temperatures and foggier atmospheric conditions. To develop coastal area crop coefficients (Kc values) for irrigation management, we measured orchard consumptive water use (ETc) from two different commercial orchards located near Ventura. In addition...

Fruit quality and productivity datasets, obtained over two seasons from 24 New Zealand persimmon orchards, were associated with a self organising map trained on the spatial coordinates and geographic region of each orchard. Using this approach, a summary representation of the geographic distribution of the orchards was obtained from the projection plane of the self organising map. By overlaying...