Advancing codling moth mating disruption: Part 1–insights from competitive-attraction theory

This presentation will summarize the theoretical framework guiding the research reported in companion presentations to follow it directly. Moth catch in a monitoring trap is directly proportional to the density of responsive males, along with trap findability, ensnarement efficiency, and retention time. Catch in a trap directly competing with additional attractive point sources of sex pheromone will be the above divided by the density of total attractants, adjusted for the findability and retentiveness of each. Explanation of how these theoretical equations could be explicitly tested in large field cages leads into the next talk proving the equations true for codling moth. Confirmed theory and the novel experimental system open the door for understanding and measuring of codling moth mating disruption in novel ways to be explained in following talks.