Activity evaluation of cocoa pod borer sex pheromone in cacao fields

Abstract

The previously identified female sex pheromone of cocoa pod borer, Conopomorpha cramerella, was re-evaluated for its attractive activity in different field conditions. It was found that lures containing 100-μg of synthetic sex pheromone blend, (E,Z,Z)- and (E,E,Z)-4,6,10-hexadecatrienyl acetates, and the corresponding alcohols in a ratio of 40:60:4:6 in a polyethylene vial attracted male C. cramerella moths in Sabah and peninsular Malaysia and in Sumatra and Sulawesi, Indonesia, suggesting that the same pheromone strain existed in a wide stretch of the Indo-Malayan archipelago. Of the three kinds of trap designs tested, the Delta traps were more effective than Pherocon V scale traps. Male captures were not significantly different among traps baited with 100-, 300-, or 1,000-μg doses of sex pheromone. A release rate study of pheromone formulation conducted in the laboratory showed that volatile active ingredients were desorbed from polyethylene vials following first-order kinetics, which indicates a satisfactory "half-life time" of a 100-μg loading is ≈6 wk under laboratory conditions. A satisfactory attractiveness of the lure with a 100-μg loading was ≈1-2 mo in the fields.