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European pepper moth, Duponchelia fovealis

The European pepper moth is a pest of a range of fruit and ornamental plants in green house crops within Europe, such as orchid, pepper, strawberry, tomato, lettuce, celery and pomegranate. This moth also occurs in Africa, Asia and North America. Females lay around 200 eggs in batches of five to ten close to the leaf veins of their host plants. After the larvae hatch, they feed on flowers and leaves then bore into the plants stem and continue down to ground level, in which time the plant can often collapse. The larvae also attack roots. There are one to two generations a year depending on their geographical location. Larvae pupate in soil and emerge as adult moths one to two weeks later. Mothcatcher or Delta traps with species-specific pheromone lures are an effective monitoring tool of adult moths in order to time treatments as part of an effective integrated pest management programme.
European pepper moth
Biology

 

Nature of Damage

 

Monitoring
Application Guidelines

Lures
Lures can be changed every 4-6 weeks to get the most accurate results.

Lures Handling
Pheromone lures are a very sensitive tool. They can be affected by exposure to elevated heat and direct sunshine. Direct touching by hand may cause cross contamination leading to mixed catches in the trap. Some contaminants such as Nicotine May have repellent effect reducing trap catch.

Lure Storage
Store in a cool dry place. Shelf life can vary from 3-36 months depending on the storage temperature. See Technical Data Sheet for further details.

Trap Selection

The Deltra trap is the most sensitive trap to use for monitoring this insect. However, Moth catcher may be used in dusty conditions or in high moth population density.

Trap Density

Do not re-use the trap to monitor different insects as this may lead to mixed catches. One trap for every two hectares of large scale fields of homogenous lands.

Two traps per hectare (2trap/ha) for small holdings and in field of uneven topography.

Trap Position

Place traps near the highest point of the plant using supporting posts approximately 1 meter high, or higher if the crop is higher.

Data and Interpretation

Collect data weekly from the start of the flight of the over wintering generation. During the height of the population more frequent reading may be needed. Decisions on pesticide application should not be taken solely on the trap catch data. Climatic and biological considerations should be taken in account.