Can you assist the PIPS 4 Baseline Monitoring for Light Brown Apple Moth?
Light Brown Apple Moth (LBAM) – Epiphyas postvittana
LBAM are one of the pests targeted in the PIPS4 Profit IPDM project.
As a first step, Pomewest is looking for suitable sites to set traps in March and April to establish a baseline for insect numbers in orchards around Donnybrook, Manjimup, and Pemberton. If you’d like to be involved, contact Jen or Susie.
Keen to get involved?
Growers can get involved in several ways:
Volunteer for LBAM monitoring traps on your farm – March to April 2024, then again from August
Attend PIPS roadshow in August – speak to the experts from AgVic
Keep a lookout for insect release dates – expected 2025/26 season
Get in touch with Jen – jen.riseley@dpird.wa.gov.au or 9777 0185.
More info
Light Brown Apple Moth (LBAM) is a native Australian insect that feeds on and damages a wide range of horticultural crops. It is a pest of trade concern in WA’s biosecurity plan and can cause considerable damage to fruit and leaves. Hosted in apples, grapes, pears, citrus, and pasture crops clover, lupins and lucerne the moths are active in the warmer months from September to May but can be active all year during warm winters.
Eggs tend to be laid in early autumn and larvae are active on warm winter days feeding on ground cover, fallen leaves and fruit buds. Larvae often hide in folded leaves and produce large amounts of silk which can shelter them from cover sprays. Larger larvae can enter fruit via the calyx and cause internal fruit damage. Moths emerge in early summer and are nocturnal, males are 10mm long with a 20mm wingspan.
LBAM tend to feed while sheltered under leaves, so damage appears on the green side of fruit as a shallow, corky scar over the fruit. Larvae create circular stings on fruit and cause ‘windows’ in leaves.
LBAM is particularly damaging during spring and when cool conditions persist over summer.
The moths are weak flyers, so multiple traps are needed per hectare. Keep the orchard floor free of broadleaf weeds like capeweed to prevent overwintering.
Biocontrols for LBAM - Trichogramma
The PIPS 4 IPDM project is investigating the Australian native parasitoid wasp Trichogramma as a biocontrol for LBAM and also codling moth. This tiny wasp is only 0.5mm long, so it is difficult to identify by eye, and it doesn’t travel far in windy conditions. The LBAM moth eggs are sensitive to predation for a short time before hatching, so trap monitoring and timing of wasp release is critical.
To survive multiple generations and establish a population, Trichogramma requires SNAP:
Shelter
Nectar
Alternate prey (when LBAM eggs aren’t around)
Pollen
Research from PIPS3 shows Trichogramma survival is particularly enhanced by sweet alyssum in the orchard.
Conventionally, orchards don’t carry many SNAP opportunities for native wasps which is why they don’t naturally keep LBAM under control. Trichogramma is also highly sensitive to insecticides and sulphur fungicide. The IPDM project is investigating commercially viable options for growers to incorporate into their orchard practices.
More information:
