Influence of mating disruption on the reproductive biology of the vine mealybug, Planococcus ficus (Hemiptera: Pseudococcidae), under field conditions

BACKGROUND: Although mating disruption is increasingly being used to control the worldwide grapevine pest vine mealybug, Planococcus ficus (Signoret) (Hemiptera: Pseudococcidae), its mode of action remains unclear. A 3-year field experiment was carried out to investigate the effects of mating disruption on the development and reproduction of the vine mealybug. The influence of mating disruption applied over consecutive years on the pest population density was also evaluated. RESULTS: The percentage of ovipositing females was significantly reduced in disrupted plots by 18.8–66.2%, depending on the year. The absence of ovipositing females in disrupted plots in the autumn of the second and third years indicates the effectiveness of mating disruption throughout the whole growing season. Mating disruption consistently prolonged the pre-oviposition period in all years by up to 12.5 days. CONCLUSION: Our findings provide new insights into the mechanisms underlying the pheromone-based control of the vine mealybug and indicate that the reduction of the pest population density is attributable to both a decrease and a delay in female mating. In addition, the population density of vinemealybugs undermating disruption decreased over the years, indicating that consecutive applications of this control strategy would significantly increase the effectiveness of control of the vine mealybug by mating disruption.