Occurrence of oriental fruit moth (<i>Grapholita molesta</i>) in apple orchards in New Zealand

Abstract

Grapholita molesta (Oriental Fruit Moth OFM) primarily infests stonefruit but overseas it has adapted to pipfruit and become a major pest of apples and pears in some places The objective of this study was to determine the prevalence of OFM in New Zealand apple orchards Pheromone trapping was conducted in five apple growing regions in 201415 and repeated in Hawkes Bay and Nelson in 201516 No OFM was found in Gisborne (three orchards) Nelson (six) or Central Otago (seven) but it was recorded on one of six Waikato orchards In Hawkes Bay OFM occurred on 23/36 orchards although on 15 properties le;7 moths/trap/year were caught However traps in two orchards caught over 100 moths/year The few OFM collected on some orchards may have been strays from nearby stonefruit orchards but the high numbers in these two apple orchard blocks suggested the populations were established The implications of OFM becoming an apple pest or reaching the South Island are discussed