Lower peach fruit moth pressure in dwarfing apple orchards and effective control with pheromone-triggered chlorantraniliprole sprays.

backgroundThe peach fruit moth, Carposina sasakii Matsumura (Lepidoptera: Carposinidae), is a major internal fruit borer of apple in East Asia, yet its occurrence patterns under contrasting orchard systems and the practicality of pheromone-based decision triggers for insecticide timing remain insufficiently resolved. From 2020 to 2021, we monitored male flight activity using sex-pheromone traps in paired dwarfing (high-density) and traditional (standard tree) apple orchards and quantified fruit infestation. We further tested chlorantraniliprole schedules triggered by the first sustained adult-flight signal, comparing spray timing at 3 versus 7 days post-trigger and application frequency with one versus two sprays at a 10-day interval.

resultsAcross all four site-year combinations, trap catches showed multi-peaked seasonal dynamics and were consistently lower in dwarfing orchards, with cumulative seasonal catches in traditional orchards being 1.54-2.22 times those in dwarfing orchards. Fruit infestation by C. sasakii was significantly higher in traditional orchards than in dwarfing orchards in Muping in both 2020 and 2021. All insecticide schedules reduced fruit infestation to <3% at 30 days after the first application, but two sprays achieved significantly higher corrected control efficacy (~96-98%) than a single spray, whereas timing had no significant effect.

conclusionThese results indicate that dwarfing orchard systems can experience reduced C. sasakii pressure under the current study conditions and that a simple pheromone-trap trigger combined with targeted chlorantraniliprole applications can provide effective control, offering a practical decision-support approach for integrated pest management in non-bagged apple orchards. © 2026 Society of Chemical Industry.