Effects of disruption of Grapholita molesta (Lepidoptera: Tortricidae) using sex pheromone on moth pests and insect communities in orchards

Mating disruption and mass trapping based on insect sex pheromones have been used to effectively control Grapholita molesta (Busck) (Lepidoptera: Tortricidae). However, due to the different disruption intensities of these two approaches, few reports have evaluated the differences in their ecological recovery in orchards. We investigated the dynamics of major Lepidopteran pests; infestation patterns of G. molesta in shoots and fruits; composition of the orchard insect community; and diversity, similarity, and stability indices, from 2015 to 2017, in peach orchards in northern China. Three orchards were considered, each subjected to either mating disruption, mass-trapping, or pesticides (control), from 2010 to 2013. Our results showed that moth pests and insect communities inhabiting these orchards responded differently to the two approaches. Mating disruption and mass trapping mainly affected the major and secondary non-target pests, respectively. Mating disruption had a greater effect on delaying the recovery of G. molesta than mass trapping. Mating disruption resulted in higher dominance index values and dominance concentration index values, and reduced the community stability while improving the community recovery. Mass trapping resulted in higher diversity index values, and the community exhibited contrasting effects. These results indicate that mating disruption may be more suitable than mass trapping for managing G. molesta in orchards.