Laboratory and field comparison of pheromone lures from different manufacturers for monitoring grape berry moth (Lepidoptera: Tortricidae) in vineyards

Pheromone lures from four lure manufacturers, including Alpha Scents, Inc. (West Linn, OR), ISCA Technologies (Riverside, CA), Suterra (Bend, OR), and Trece, Inc. (Adair, OK) were compared in the laboratory and field to validate purity and attraction quality of the lure blend. Lure purity was measured using gas chromatography-mass spectrometer (GC-MS). The average percentage of chemical components from a set of ten lures was found from each manufacturer using confirmation by chemical standards. Field attraction studies were done in summer 2010, and again in 2011, to evaluate pheromone lures for their potential to attract GBM in the presence of competing lures. Separate experiments with the same methodology were completed in two table grape (Concord) vineyards situated approximately 4 km apart in Augusta County, Virginia. The experiments were established in two unique vineyard environments: open vineyard setting, wooded vineyard setting. In each study, replicated trap stations consisting of four traps in a square grid were deployed in each vineyard environment. Two sets of lures were deployed for periods of four weeks. Though lures were not changed at times, liners were replaced every two weeks. Trap counts of GBM were made weekly, after which the position of the trap was randomly re-assigned to one of the four square grid vertices. Grape berry moth count differences between the four lure manufacturers were evaluated using ANOVA performed on square root (x + 0.5) transformed data.