Research is afoot to combat one of the most detrimental pest insects for the multi - billion - clam U.S. flower gardening and nursery crop industry – the European pepper moth . Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service is leading the piece of work .
European common pepper moth larvae are a damaging pest for many cosmetic and plant life crops . ( Photo by Kurt Ahlmark , USDA - APHIS )
Mengmeng Gu , Ph.D. , AgriLife Extension specializer and prof in the Department of Horticultural Sciences in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences at Texas A&M University , Bryan - College Station , and co - master investigator , Steven Frank , Ph.D. , bugologist and industrial plant pathologist , North Carolina State University , will conduct the bailiwick at placement in both United States Department of State .
The three - year study is fund by a $ 325,000 President Grant from the Crop Protection and Pest Management program of the U.S. Department of Agriculture National Institute of Food and Agriculture . The study ’s function is to improve integrated pest direction strategies and provide data that can be used to lessen economic losses from the pest in commercial baby’s room and greenhouse configurations .
The European Piper nigrum moth was first sighted in the U.S. in 2004 , in San Diego County , California . The pest has now been report in multiple locations from Washington to New York , throughout the southern state , and into Canada . direction practices are prove unable due to a lack of available information regarding the European pepper moth ’s dispersion , population , biography Hz , plant preferences , or in force insect powder .
“ European pepper moths are a huge issue for the baby’s room and glasshouse industry , ” Gu said . “ They can negatively impact a all-encompassing cooking stove of plants , and our destination is to control their harm and provide phone good management practices for growers . ”
The European common pepper moth and the damage doneGu said European pepper moth larvae , the caterpillar form , are generalist gadfly and make incredible amount of damage to crops ranging from rose , azaleas , chrysanthemums , and poinsettias to fruit , vegetables , and even row crop . The larvae feed on leaf , fruit , flowers , lower radical , and even etymon . Infestations can lead to aesthetic price , stunted plant growth , yield loss , and industrial plant expiry .
“ That is the ugly part of this pest , ” she say . “ The caterpillars feed on essentially everything , but when you are talk about the greenhouse industry and especially cosmetic plants , pest damages that affect aesthetics or yields — the economical red can append up promptly . ”
Due to their generalist nature , European pepper moths menace both the nation ’s $ 4.8 billion wholesale floriculture crop industry and $ 4.7 billion nursery crop industriousness . The two states involved in the current inquiry project , Texas and North Carolina , rank fourth and 6th nationally for baby’s room product . Texas growers alone create nursery breed and bloom with a wholesale note value of around $ 659.4 million in 2019 .
Creating a pest direction strategy
Research hopes to shed light on way to control the European Piper nigrum moth in commercial-grade greenhouse and nursery configurations . ( exposure by Kurt Ahlmark , USDA - APHIS )
Gu tell traps at six greenhouse locations in Texas and North Carolina are being used to supervise the distribution and phenology of European pepper moths , their preferences , and the amends colligate to harvest species and cultivar . The team will also work to determine how irrigation and fertilization practice might influence those damage .
Fieldwork in nursery will be augmented by laboratory assays in Texas to determine the differences in the pests ’ feeding taste by providing woody and herbaceous industrial plant species as likely hosts , Gu said . This could help researchers determine the plant species and cultivars most susceptible to the European pepper moth .
The project will also determine how effective different biological and conventional insecticides are for bring off the pest . Researchers will try out with insecticides with a range of active ingredient to nail efficaciousness and produce applications programme strategies under commercial growing conditions .
Gu say it is significant to realize insecticide efficaciousness but also to regulate any damaging impacts treatments could have on crop .
The project will also have an educational element , Gu say . An on-line training faculty will be created to help Master Gardeners , county broker , agriculturist , and other industry professionals learn how to scout for larva and sign of legal injury , how to immobilise moth , and how to report sightings for statistical distribution mapping .
“ This is a much - needed study , ” Gu say . “ Dr. Frank is a pioneer in European pepper moth research , and we trust to create an incorporate pest direction regimen that will help trim back the pest ’s impact on the nursery manufacture and beyond . ”
For more info : Texas A&M AgriLife Extensionwww.agrilifetoday.tamu.edu
