Annual Capture of Two Elachistidae Moth Species Using Stenoma catenifer Sex Pheromone in Criollo Avocado (Persea americana) at Chiapas, Mexico

Abstract

Native varieties of avocado (Persea americana Mill) called "Criollo" grow in Mexico, but little is known of their association with the seed borer moth, Stenoma catenifer (Walsingham). S. catenifer is the best-known pest of 'Hass' avocado fruit. The S. catenifer sex pheromone was used to capture male S. catenifer in Criollo avocado orchards at different elevations at Chiapas, Mexico from September 2012 to August 2013. Polynomial regression analysis was used to assess the relationship between numbers of moths caught and weather factors (precipitation and temperature). We thought temperature and precipitation might affect the moths captured. Initial S. catenifer captures coincided with crop flowering and presence of avocado fruit, independently of the altitude at the site. S. catenifer was caught frequently at the low-altitude site from December to January, while captures increased from February to May at higher altitude. Moths captured and precipitation were positively correlated at the low-altitude site; moths captured were correlated with temperature but not with rainfall at the high-altitude site. As expected, S. catenifer pheromone also attracted Antaeotricha nictitans (Zeller) in the avocado crop. Interestingly, A. nictitans was captured in all seasons, even in larger numbers than S. catenifer. A new unidentified moth species in the Elachistidae family was present from late May to 10 July and was more abundant at Site 2.