Environmentally safe strategies to control the European grapevine moth, Lobesia botrana (Den. & Schiff.), in the Douro demarcated region

Abstract

In Douro Demarcated Region (DDR), the European Grapevine Moth (EGVM) is a key pest of commercial vineyards. The development of effective and environmentally safe control strategies against this pest in DDR, is a major objective of EcoVitis project, that join Real Companhia Velha, Sogevinus Quintas S.A., Association for the Development of Viticulture in the Douro Region and University of Trás-os-Montes and Alto Douro. This objective is being examined by two main approaches: pheromone-based mating disruption (MD) and enhancement of conservation biological control of the pest. The MD technique has been applied in DDR to control the EGVM, since 2000, mainly using ISONET-L dispensers (Shin-Etsu Chemical Co.), increasing from an initial 9 ha to 214 ha in 2012. This technique has proved to reduce the levels of the pest, however, in some cases it did not successfully reduce infestation below the tolerance threshold, mainly in the third generation, and insecticides had to be applied. Some constrains have been identified, such as the high biotic potential of the pest, the high summer temperatures, the orography (high steepness) and  the mix of vineyards and untreated habitats, where alternative hosts (e.g. Daphne gnidium L.) are common. In order to avoid some of these constrains, one of the goals of EcoVitis is to test a new dispenser loaded with higher dosis of pheromone. Studies on EGVM biological control agents are being carried at DDR since 2002. To date, seven species of Hymenopteran parasitoids have been identified being Elachertus affinis (Masi), Brachymeria sp., Campoplex capitator (Aubert) and Dibrachys cavus (Förster) the most commons; also several species of entomopathogenic fungi, mainly from the genera Beauveria and Metarhiziumare being isolated. Under EcoVitis it is hypothesized that we can enhance biological control by arthropod enemies and by native entomopathogenic fungi by manipulating the ecological infrastructure of local farms.