Pest Alert: Light Brown Apple Moth in California (May 31, 2007)

Light brown apple moth (LBAM) was discovered for the first time in the continental United States in California this February. (The moth is known to be established in Hawaii.) On February 6, 2007 a private citizen near Berkeley caught 2 light brown apple moths in a blacklight trap. In response to this find, California is conducting extensive trapping efforts with over 23,000 pheromone traps deployed in 46 counties to date. As of the May 24 situation report, 3,374 LBAM specimens have now been recovered from 9 California counties (Alameda, Contra Costa, Marin, Monterey, Napa, San Francisco, San Mateo, Santa Clara, and Santa Cruz). The majority of the moths captured (91% of captures) have been from southern Santa Cruz and northern Monterey counties. Updates on the LBAM situation and a map of the infested area are posted on the California Department of Agriculture’s website: http://www.cdfa.ca.gov/phpps/pdep/lbam/lbam_main.html

On May 2 USDA issued a federal domestic quarantine order to limit the spread of the LBAM. All nursery stock and host commodities leaving the infested California counties and Hawaii require inspection and certification before they can be moved outside the quarantine area.

Light brown apple moth has a huge host range and is reported to feed on more than 200 plant species in 120 plant genera in 50 families. Hosts include fruits (apples, blueberry, peach, strawberry), broadleaved weeds (plantain), vegetables (cabbage, corn, tomatoes), trees (oak, willow, poplar) and ornamentals. LBAM larvae feed on leaves, buds, and fruit but damage to fruit causes the greatest economic losses. For photos and links to further information on LBAM visit our website: http://massnrc.org/pests/pestFAQsheets/lightbrownapplemoth.htm

Massachusetts Department of Agricultural Resources will be conducting surveys for two exotic tortricids this summer, the light brown apple moth (Epiphyas postvittana) and summer fruit tortrix moth (Adoxophyes orana), as part of the USDA Cooperative Agricultural Pest Survey. The summer fruit tortrix moth is not known to occur in North America but is a major pest of fruit crops, especially apple and pear, in countries where it occurs. For more information on this moth visit our website: http://massnrc.org/pests/pestFAQsheets/summer%20fruit%20tortrix%20moth.htm

The pest alert is from the Massachusetts Introduced Pests Outreach Project, a collaborative project between the Massachusetts Department of Agricultural Resources and the UMass Extension Agriculture and Landscape Program aimed at preventing the establishment of new pathogens and pests in Massachusetts. Visit the project website (http://www.massnrc.org/pests) for more information on emerging pests or to subscribe and unsubscribe for pest alerts.