U.S. Department of Agriculture: Agricultural Research Service, Lincoln, Nebraska
Document Type
Article
Date of this Version
2008
Abstract
Codling moth (CM) is an insidious pest, tunnelling to the core of valuable commodities that are typically marketed with exceptional quality standards for appearance, firmness and sweetness. While there is no mention in the Bible of whether the apple that Eve gave to Adam graded 'Extra fancy', it is likely that if this fruit had been infested with CM, the human race would not be as anxious about returning to a pest-ridden garden of paradise. Nevertheless, since Noah allowed two adult CM to disembark from his boat, the distribution of this pest has closely followed man's cultivation of its hosts around the world (Shel'deshova, 1967). Historically, commercial plantings of both apple (Malus domestica Borkhausen) and pear (Iyrus communis L.) have been heavily sprayed with seasonal programmes of broad-spectrum insecticides as part of the management of CM (Barnes, 1959; Madsen and Morgan, 1970). These intensive and indiscriminate management practices have not only defined the efficacy of control for this key pest, but also the population dynamics of a suite of secondary pests and their associated natural enemies, and the occurrence of several negative spill-over effects related to the environment and human safety (Prokopy and Croft, 1994).
Comments
Published in Areawide Pest Management: Theory and Implementation (eds O. Koul, G. Cuperus and N. Elliott) p. 159-190