Attract and Kill Technology to Control Citrus Leafminer in Citrus Nurseries and Orchards

The citrus leafminer (CLM), Phyllocnistis citrella, Stainton (Lepidoptera: Gracillariidae), is an important pest of citrus originally found in Florida in 1993 and in Texas in 1994. Feeding by the larval stage results in serious damage to leaves and predisposes trees to citrus canker. Female CLM release their pheromone to attract males for mating. Attract and Kill (A&K) is the practice of deploying synthetic copies of moth pheromones in combination with insecticide into the crop in form of tiny droplets. Each droplet is a decoy female. Male moths approach and touch the droplet with intent to mate and subsequently die from intoxication by the insecticide, permethrin. The mating is prevented and subsequently there is no crop damage. A&K has been practiced and refined for almost 3 decades and is widely used throughout the world for moth, beetle, flies and other pest control in a variety of agricultural crops and forestry, and public and animal health sector. This proposal intends to develop MalEx, an effective semiochemical-based Attract and Kill formulation for control of citrus leafminer.