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Swede midge (Contarinia nasturtii, Diptera: Cecidomyiidae) is a small invasive fly that is currently threatening Brassica vegetable and oilseed production in the Northeastern U.S. and Canada. Larvae feed on plant meristems, resulting in deformed leaves, stems, and heads. Extremely low damage thresholds for heading Brassica vegetables, multiple overlapping generations, and lack of effective organic insecticide options present serious challenges for managing this pest. Pheromone mating disruption (PMD), which involves confusing male insects with unnaturally large doses of sex pheromones, is particularly promising for swede midge management because it prevents mating and subsequent oviposition. One major challenge to PMD for swede midge management is that the chiral female pheromone blend, a 1:2:0.02 blend of (2S, 9S)-diacetoxyundecane, (2S, 10S)-diacetoxyundecane and (S)-2-acetoxyundecane, is expensive to synthesize due to the structural complexity of the compounds. Here, we explored three ways to reduce the cost of swede midge PMD: the use of lower-cost racemic pheromones containing all possible stereoisomers, single-component blends, and the possibility of using timed pheromone dispensers by testing for diel patterns of midge reproductive behavior. Although we found that males were not attracted to blends containing the racemic stereoisomers of the main pheromone component, (2S, 10S)-diacetoxyundecane, racemic blends functioned equally as well as chiral blends in confusing males and altering female behavior in PMD systems. We observed 95% and 87% reductions in males caught in monitoring traps in three-component chiral and racemic PMD plots of broccoli, respectively. In addition to confusing males, we also found that females altered their reproductive behavior in response to both chiral and racemic pheromones. Females released pheromones more frequently when exposed to three-component chiral and racemic blends, and were less likely to mate afterward. Single-pheromone treatments containing either chiral or racemic 2,10-diacetoxyundecane neither confused males nor influenced female behavior. We identified a total of eight hours during the day and night when midges do not exhibit mate-seeking behavior, during which programmable PMD dispensers could be turned off to save pheromone inputs. We found that up to 81% of females released pheromones to attract males for mating in the early morning shortly after dawn. Most females emerged in the morning as well, releasing pheromones soon after eclosing. Because midges are receptive to mates shortly after emergence, they may mate at their emergence site. Overall, we found relatively high levels of crop damage in our pheromone-treated plots, likely due to the migration of mated females into our plots. If midges mate at emergence sites, rotation of Brassica vegetable crops may result in overwintered midges emerging in fields where host plants are not currently grown. Further research is needed to determine where midges mate in order to determine where to install PMD dispensers.

Os frutos cítricos são uma das principais fontes de exportação do Brasil, sendo que São Paulo responde por cerca de 80% da produção total. Dentre os fatores que limitam a produção citrícola brasileira, especialmente no estado de São Paulo, vem se sobressaindo nos últimos anos, a clorose variegada dos citros (CVC), a podridão floral, o minador-dos-citros e o bicho-furão-dos-citros, Ecdytolopha aurantiana (Lima, 1927) (Lepidoptera: Tortricidae), além dos ácaros, moscas-das-frutas, pinta preta e mais recentemente a morte súbita. O presente trabalho teve como objetivo desenvolver um modelo para previsão de ocorrência de E. aurantiana, baseado em dados de monitoramento através de armadilhas de feromônio sexual e desenvolver um sistema computacional que possa utilizar este modelo para gerar as previsões de ocorrência, além de fornecer um local de troca de informações entre o citricultor e a comunidade científica. O tipo de solo, temperatura do local, variedade de citros, idade das plantas e uso de agroquímicos para controle de E. aurantiana, influenciaram na dinâmica populacional deste inseto. A maior influência sobre a flutuação do bicho-furão foi exercida pelo tipo de solo, seguido pela temperatura local, variedade de citros, idade das plantas e uso de agroquímicos para controle de E. aurantiana. A ocorrência de E. aurantiana em função da temperatura é diferente para cada combinação de tipo de solo, variedade de citros, idade das plantas e uso de agroquímicos. O modelo desenvolvido pode prever o potencial de ocorrência de E. aurantiana em função da temperatura ou dos meses do ano, levando-se em consideração o tipo de solo, variedade de citros, idade das plantas e aplicação de agroquímicos. O programa (BF) elaborado na linguagem R conta com equações para simular as diversas situações de ocorrência de E. aurantiana. O SIAC (Sistema Integrado de Apoio ao Citricultor) é um sistema que facilita o uso do modelo, sem a necessidade de conhecimento de R e fornece uma gama de recursos que visa facilitar o acesso do citricultor às informações e ao pesquisador aos problemas do citricultor, criando com isto uma maior interação de ambos. O modelo de previsão de ocorrência de bicho-furão pode ser aperfeiçoado com coleta de dados mais regulares e de forma contínua. / Citrus fruits are Brazil’s major exporting sources, and São Paulo is accountable for approximately 80% of the total production. Among the factors that limit the Brazilian citriculture, especially in the state of São Paulo, one points in the past few years the citrus variegated chlorosis (CVC), flower rot, citrus leaf miner and citrus fruit borer, Ecdytolopha aurantiana (Lima, 1927) (Lepidoptera: Tortricidae), in addition to mites, fruit flies, black spot, and more recently, sudden death. The goal of this work was to develop a model to predict the occurrence of E. aurantiana, based on monitoring data collected through sexual pheromone traps, and to develop a computer system capable of using such model to generate occurrence predictions and to provide a place for information exchange between citriculturists and the scientific community. Soil type, site temperature, citrus variety, age of plants and use of chemicals to control E. aurantiana influenced the population dynamics of the insect. The highest influence on the citrus fruit borer dynamics was exerted by the soil type, followed by site temperature, citrus variety, age of plants and use of chemicals for E. aurantiana control. The occurrence of E. aurantiana according to temperature is different for each combination of soil type, citrus variety, age of plants and use of chemicals. The model developed can predict the occurrence potential of E. aurantiana according to temperature or months of the year, taking into account soil type, citrus variety, age of plants and chemicals spraying. The elaborated software (BF), designed in R language, includes equations that simulate the various situations of E. aurantiana occurrence. SIAC ("Sistema Integrado de Apoio ao Citricultor") is a system that simplifies the use of the model, does not require previous knowledge on R, and provides a wide range of resources to facilitates the access of citriculturists to information and that of researchers to citriculturists’ problems, thus creating a better interaction between them. The predicting model of citrus fruit borer occurrence can be improved with more frequent and continuous data collecting.

Os frutos cítricos são uma das principais fontes de exportação do Brasil, sendo que São Paulo responde por cerca de 80% da produção total. Dentre os fatores que limitam a produção citrícola brasileira, especialmente no estado de São Paulo, vem se sobressaindo nos últimos anos, a clorose variegada dos citros (CVC), a podridão floral, o minador-dos-citros e o bicho-furão-dos-citros, Ecdytolopha aurantiana (Lima, 1927) (Lepidoptera: Tortricidae), além dos ácaros, moscas-das-frutas, pinta preta e mais recentemente a morte súbita. O presente trabalho teve como objetivo desenvolver um modelo para previsão de ocorrência de E. aurantiana, baseado em dados de monitoramento através de armadilhas de feromônio sexual e desenvolver um sistema computacional que possa utilizar este modelo para gerar as previsões de ocorrência, além de fornecer um local de troca de informações entre o citricultor e a comunidade científica. O tipo de solo, temperatura do local, variedade de citros, idade das plantas e uso de agroquímicos para controle de E. aurantiana, influenciaram na dinâmica populacional deste inseto. A maior influência sobre a flutuação do bicho-furão foi exercida pelo tipo de solo, seguido pela temperatura local, variedade de citros, idade das plantas e uso de agroquímicos para controle de E. aurantiana. A ocorrência de E. aurantiana em função da temperatura é diferente para cada combinação de tipo de solo, variedade de citros, idade das plantas e uso de agroquímicos. O modelo desenvolvido pode prever o potencial de ocorrência de E. aurantiana em função da temperatura ou dos meses do ano, levando-se em consideração o tipo de solo, variedade de citros, idade das plantas e aplicação de agroquímicos. O programa (BF) elaborado na linguagem R conta com equações para simular as diversas situações de ocorrência de E. aurantiana. O SIAC (Sistema Integrado de Apoio ao Citricultor) é um sistema que facilita o uso do modelo, sem a necessidade de conhecimento de R e fornece uma gama de recursos que visa facilitar o acesso do citricultor às informações e ao pesquisador aos problemas do citricultor, criando com isto uma maior interação de ambos. O modelo de previsão de ocorrência de bicho-furão pode ser aperfeiçoado com coleta de dados mais regulares e de forma contínua. / Citrus fruits are Brazil’s major exporting sources, and São Paulo is accountable for approximately 80% of the total production. Among the factors that limit the Brazilian citriculture, especially in the state of São Paulo, one points in the past few years the citrus variegated chlorosis (CVC), flower rot, citrus leaf miner and citrus fruit borer, Ecdytolopha aurantiana (Lima, 1927) (Lepidoptera: Tortricidae), in addition to mites, fruit flies, black spot, and more recently, sudden death. The goal of this work was to develop a model to predict the occurrence of E. aurantiana, based on monitoring data collected through sexual pheromone traps, and to develop a computer system capable of using such model to generate occurrence predictions and to provide a place for information exchange between citriculturists and the scientific community. Soil type, site temperature, citrus variety, age of plants and use of chemicals to control E. aurantiana influenced the population dynamics of the insect. The highest influence on the citrus fruit borer dynamics was exerted by the soil type, followed by site temperature, citrus variety, age of plants and use of chemicals for E. aurantiana control. The occurrence of E. aurantiana according to temperature is different for each combination of soil type, citrus variety, age of plants and use of chemicals. The model developed can predict the occurrence potential of E. aurantiana according to temperature or months of the year, taking into account soil type, citrus variety, age of plants and chemicals spraying. The elaborated software (BF), designed in R language, includes equations that simulate the various situations of E. aurantiana occurrence. SIAC (“Sistema Integrado de Apoio ao Citricultor”) is a system that simplifies the use of the model, does not require previous knowledge on R, and provides a wide range of resources to facilitates the access of citriculturists to information and that of researchers to citriculturists’ problems, thus creating a better interaction between them. The predicting model of citrus fruit borer occurrence can be improved with more frequent and continuous data collecting.