Unlike Neil (see here) I was a bit late off the mark in using the Grapholita molesta pheromone lure to attract its by-product of Pammene giganteana, but a quick tour around some sites within 5km of home between 2.30pm and 4pm this afternoon in quite mediocre weather (overcast and breezy, 9C) brought success at three places where giganteana has not previously been recorded. Each location comprised established oak woodland where I could escape the breeze, at Kingswood, at Rushbeds and back here at Westcott (Gypsy Bottom, about 1km south of the village), and at each one the moth turned up within five minutes of putting out the lure. I had tried it in the garden for a couple of hours before going out but was unsuccessful (much as expected, with no nearby mature oaks here) and I also had no luck at two other sites which weren't woodland but had lines of old hedgerow oaks (probably too breezy today).
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| Pammene giganteana, Kingswood 8th April |
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| Pammene giganteana, Westcott 8th April |
The moth is not very exciting to look at and its 'local' status must in part be due to under-recording because of its very early flight season (March and April). Its larvae feed inside the soft hymenopteran galls on oak (Oak Apples). The adult does come to light and I've had 13 records of it that way from seven different sites across Bucks over the past ten years, but the speed at which it responds to this pheromone lure is going to make mapping its presence so much easier!
Dave Wilton Westcott, Bucks
Having heard that Pammene giganteana was also attracted to the FUN lure for Grapholita funebrana I decided to give it a go and was rewarded this morning with a Pammene giganteana. The trap had been out in the garden for a couple of days in rather unpromising weather conditions.
ReplyDeleteThat's good, I'll keeping trying here then! The MOL lure seems to be the best for giganteana but people have also had it to POM (for Cydia pomonella) and SKI (for Grapholita lobarzewskii) as well as FUN, so the compounds used for these tortix lures must all be quite similar.
ReplyDeleteRegarding the MOL lure, I had the real thing last year but that was from a larva (pink) crawling across the coffee table away from the fruitbowl (containing spanish peaches). Very interesting about P. giganteana. I have only one modern record of P. giganteana and indeed have never seen it. I am not in possession of any Tortricid lures so have ordered this one.
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