Explore the vast range of titles available.

The black pine bast scale, M. thunbergianae, is a major insect pest of black pine and causes serious environmental and economic losses in forests. Therefore, it is essential to monitor the occurrence and population of M. thunbergianae, and a monitoring method using a pheromone trap is commonly employed. Because the counting of insects performed by humans in these pheromone traps is labor intensive and time consuming, this study proposes automated deep learning counting algorithms using pheromone trap images. The pheromone traps collected in the field were photographed in the laboratory, and the images were used for training, validation, and testing of the detection models. In addition, the image cropping method was applied for the successful detection of small objects in the image, considering the small size of M. thunbergianae in trap images. The detection and counting performance were evaluated and compared for a total of 16 models under eight model conditions and two cropping conditions, and a counting accuracy of 95% or more was shown in most models. This result shows that the artificial intelligence-based pest counting method proposed in this study is suitable for constant and accurate monitoring of insect pests.

The beet armyworm, (Hübner), is an important agricultural pest worldwide that has caused serious economic losses in the main crop-producing areas of China. To effectively monitor and control this pest, it is crucial to investigate its population dynamics and seasonal migration patterns in northern China. In this study, we monitored the population dynamics of using sex pheromone traps in Shenyang, Liaoning Province from 2012 to 2022, combining these data with amigration trajectory simulation approach and synoptic weather analysis. There were significant interannual and seasonal variations in the capture number of and the total number of exceeded 2,000 individuals in 2018 and 2020. The highest and lowest numbers of were trapped in September and May, accounting for 34.65% ± 6.81% and 0.11% ± 0.04% of the annual totals, respectively. The average occurrence period was 140.9 ± 9.34 days during 2012-2022. In addition, the biomass of also increased significantly during these years. The simulated seasonal migration trajectories also revealed varying source regions in different months, primarily originated from Northeast China and East China. These unique insights into the migration patterns of will contribute to a deeper understanding of its occurrence in northern China and provide a theoretical basis for regional monitoring, early warning, and the development of effective management strategies for long-range migratory pests.

Helicoverpa armigera (Hübner) is a destructive agricultural pest. Facultative migration usually causes regional catastrophes; therefore, developing a simple and easy new technology for the monitoring and early warning of immigrant populations is urgent. Between 2021 and 2023, we conducted a population-monitoring study on H. armigera immigrants in Xundian County, Yunnan Province, where the migration pathway for pests from southeast Asia extends to southwest China. Based on the differences in the reproductive organ development parameters of H. armigera at different ages, we established an adult age discrimination model. The monitoring results of field populations with semiochemical attractants and sex pheromones between 2021 and 2023 showed that the daily average age of the adult population of H. armigera fluctuated above 6 days, and the trapping dynamics with semiochemical attractants and sex pheromones were the same. Both trapping methods yielded H. armigera males of different ages and had identical age structures, indicating that the H. armigera population primarily migrated from other regions. The trajectory analysis showed that the H. armigera population that migrated to Xundian between May and September was primarily from South Kunming, and after October, it was primarily the southward-migrating population north of Qujing City, Yunnan Province. Based on the relationship between the daily average fecundity and the age of H. armigera, a dynamic prediction model for the fecundity of the immigrant population was established. In this study, the prediction models and methods based on semiochemical attractants could potentially be used in the surveillance and population alerting of H. armigera.

The successful management of lepidopteran moths in orchards usually depends on the precise forecast of adult activity. However, the seasonal phenology of moths varies between crop cultivars and years, making it difficult to schedule the control measures. Here, we monitored male flight activity of oriental fruit moth Grapholita molesta and summer fruit tortrix moth Adoxophyes orana by using sex pheromone traps in peach orchards of three different cultivars for three successive years. We developed a logistic multiple-peaks model to fit data and then calculated degree-days (DD) required for male activity and neonate emergency. Results show that G. molesta and A. orana males had 4–5 and 3 flight peaks per year, respectively. The seasonal phenology of G. molesta or A. orana was quite stable with an identical timing of each flight peak between cultivars in a year. The flight activity was usually higher in the second and third peaks for both moths, with a higher cumulative number of G. molesta males captured than that of A. orana . Compared to A. orana , G. molesta emerged early in spring and required lower degree-days to reach the subsequent flight peaks and for neonate emergency. Our results suggest that to decline the possibility of outbreaks of moths during the growing seasons, pheromone traps should be scheduled in April with a cumulative DD between 49.6 and 207.1 for G. molesta and in mid-May–early June with a cumulative DD between 450.4 and 866.7 for A. orana , aiming to trap the newly emerged male adults or disrupting female mating success of overwintered moths in orchards. Based on the thermal requirement for egg hatching (i.e., 79.4 DD for G. molesta and 90.0 DD for A. orana ), insecticide treatments would be applied in late-April–early May and late May–early June to reduce the field population density of neonates of G. molesta and A. orana , respectively, to reduce fruit damage in orchards. Furthermore, pheromone traps set up in late July–early August (573.8–1025.2 DD) for G. molesta and in mid-September (1539.7–1788.9 DD) for A. orana may suppress overwintering populations and thus decrease pest infestation in next year.

Cnaphalocrocis medinalis (Lepidoptera: Crambidae) is an economically important rice pest in Taiwan. The population genetic structure of C. medinalis is not clear and thus was studied in this research. Cnaphalocrocis medinalis samples were collected from six sampling locations in Taiwan using white sticky paper traps coated with sex pheromone. Genetic diversity was analyzed by mitochondrial and nuclear markers. Phylogenetic analysis revealed that all specimens of C. medinalis in Taiwan belonged to a single clade. Population genetic analysis of C. medinalis indicated no significant population structure because of a lack of significant genetic differentiation among the six sampling sites. Population genetic analysis also revealed no significant genetic differentiation among C. medinalis populations in Taiwan and neighboring regions, suggesting a common origin. The extremely low genetic diversity of C. medinalis in East Asia might be due to a population expansion after a recent founder effect. This study provides molecular information for understanding the population genetic structure of C. medinalis in Taiwan and East Asia.

Stenoma catenifer Walsingham is a quarantine pest of avocado. Therefore, its detection in avocado-growing regions of Mexico that had been designated pest-free can halt national and international trade. One option for monitoring S. catenifer is the use of synthetic sex pheromone traps. In this study we determined the optimal density of pheromone-baited traps for monitoring S. catenifer. The experiment was conducted in 4 commercial Hass avocado orchards in Colima, Mexico, each with different pest infestation levels. Trap densities were established at 0.5, 1, 2, or 3 traps per ha. The traps were checked every 15 d and the number of moths recorded. The density of 3 traps per ha captured the most moths per trap followed by 1 trap per ha; similar small numbers of moths were captured at densities of 0.5 and 2 traps per ha. In general, there was a linear relationship between trap catch and trap density per ha. The overall default error rate, i.e., the proportion of traps did not detect moths when they were present, was 5.5% at a density of 3 traps per ha and 2.7% at trap densities of 0.5 and 2 traps per ha. Furthermore, at a density of 1 trap per ha all traps captured moths and so there was no default error. Since S. catenifer is a quarantine pest that must be detected promptly to reduce the risk of dispersal and establishment in moth-free areas, it is suggested that a density of 1 trap per ha should be used in avocado orchards to effectively monitor for the presence of this pest. However, this estimate was obtained through the bootstrapping technique, which involves the creation of pseudoreplicate datasets by resampling. Randomized field experiments with true replicates are needed to corroborate this result. La presencia de Stenoma catenifer Walsingham, una plaga cuarentenaria, puede cancelar la comercialización nacional e internacional de aguacate Hass de zonas libres de plagas reglamentadas del aguacatero. Una opción para su oportuna detección es el uso de trampas con feromona sexual sintética. El objetivo del estudio fue determinar la densidad de estas de trampas para el monitoreo de S. catenifer. El experimento se estableció en cuatro huertos comerciales de aguacate Hass, con diferentes niveles de infestación de la plaga, en Colima, México. En los huertos, se establecieron las densidades siguientes: 0.5, 1, 2, y 3 trampas por ha. Las trampas se revisaron cada 15 días para registrar el número de palomillas capturadas. La densidad de 3 trampas por ha capturó el mayor número de palomillas, seguida de la densidad de 1 trampa por ha, mientras que las capturas con 0.5 y 2 trampas por ha fueron las menores, pero muy similares entre sí. En general, las densidades de 0.5, 1, y 2 trampas por ha en relación con la densidad de 3 trampas por ha estuvieron linealmente relacionadas en la mayoría de los casos. La tasa de error global por omisión, i.e., no detectar la palomilla cuando está presente, con referencia a la densidad de 3 trampas por ha fue de 5.5%, y de 2.7% para las densidades de 0.5 y 2 trampas por ha, mientras que en la densidad de 1 trampa por ha siempre se detectaron palomillas y no tuvo omisión de error. Por tratarse de una plaga de importancia cuarentenaria y por el interés de detectarla oportunamente y así reducir el riesgo de dispersión y establecimiento a las áreas libres, se sugiere usar la densidad de una trampa por hectárea de aguacate. Sin embargo, este estimado se obtuvo mediate la técnica de bootstrapping que utiliza pseudor-replicas. Para validar este resultado, se requieren experimentos de campo con repeticiones verdaderas.

The first occurrence of an invasive pest species, the fall armyworm (Spodoptera frugiperda, Lepidoptera: Noctuidae), in Bulgaria is reported. Different trapping methods (black light trap, traps baited with semiochemical lures, and food attractants) were used to study Noctuidae assemblages in Bulgaria in 2023. Two males of S. frugiperda were caught with sex pheromone traps in maize fields in Knezha, northern Bulgaria, in early November 2023. Additionally, three moths were attracted by black light traps (early November 2023) and one moth by a food lure applied on a tree trunk at the end of October 2023 in the municipalities of Parvomay and Chirpan, southern Bulgaria, respectively. The identification of S. frugiperda was confirmed using morphological and molecular methods.

This paper deals with the mathematical modelling of the red palm weevil (RPW), Rhynchophorus ferrugineus (Olivier) (Coleoptera: Curculionidae), in date palms using chemical control by utilizing injection and sex pheromone traps. A deterministic and stochastic model for RPW is proposed and analyzed. The existence of a positive global solution for the stochastic RPW model is investigated, and the conditions for the extinction of RPWs from the stochastic system are obtained. The adequate criteria for the presence of a unique ergodic stationary distribution for the RPW system are established by creating suitable Lyapunov functions. The impact of chemical injection and pheromone traps on RPW is demonstrated. The importance of environmental noise on RPW is highlighted and simulated using the Milstein method.

Monitoring of oriental fruit moths ( Grapholita molesta Busck) is a prerequisite for its control. This study introduced a digital image-processing method and logistic model for the control of oriental fruit moths. First, five triangular sex pheromone traps were installed separately within each area of 667 m 2 in a peach orchard to monitor oriental fruit moths consecutively for 3 years. Next, full view images of oriental fruit moths were collected via a digital camera and then subjected to graying, separation and morphological analysis for automatic counting using MATLAB software. Afterwards, the results of automatic counting were used for fitting a logistic model to forecast the control threshold and key control period. There was a high consistency between automatic counting and manual counting (0.99, P < 0.05). According to the logistic model, oriental fruit moths had four occurrence peaks during a year, with a time-lag of 15–18 days between adult occurrence peak and the larval damage peak. Additionally, the key control period was from 28 June to 3 July each year, when the wormy fruit rate reached up to 5% and the trapping volume was approximately 10.2 per day per trap. Additionally, the key control period for the overwintering generation was 25 April. This study provides an automatic counting method and fitted logistic model with a great potential for application to the control of oriental fruit moths.