Innovative Tools and Methods for Mating Disruption of the Carob Moth

The California date industry produces about 20,000 tons of dates annually with a gross value of about $50 million. The only significant pest of dates is the carob moth Ectomyelois ceratoniae (Pyralidae), a recent immigrant species and a key pest of the California date industry that can devastate entire crops if left unchecked. This serious pest of many other crops around the world is now moving to other high-cash nut and fruit commodities in California. Pesticides currently registered for dates not only have little effect suppressing the moth, but also disturb the ecological balance of orchards. Insect sex pheromones can be used as a safe alternative, but controlled release technology, formulation deployment and the economical chemical synthesis remain key impediments to their widespread use. Both the carob moth pheromone and its equally attractive and more stable formate mimic are very difficult to synthesize and are not commercially available. The success of this project will provide date growers with the first viable commercial product for the control of the carob moth which also meets the requirements for organically certifiable orchards. The optimization of a formulation and delivery system that protects a highly labile formate component in very hot and inhospitable environments (like date orchards) will very likely be applicable to other industries as well.