By Kacie Athey, WSU-TFREC Entomology, kacie.athey@wsu.edu, August 2019
Some of you may be seeing your Delta traps filling up with codling moth this season.
Do not panic, there are about 1,200 acres of commercial releases of sterile codling moths near Tonasket, Brewster, Bridgeport, Orondo, Wenatchee, Royal City, Basin City and north of Pasco. An easy way to tell if your trap contains sterile moths is to squish the abdomen of the moth. If it is pink (see picture), it is sterile, if it is clear or gray, it is a wild moth. Sterile moths, like all codling moths, will fly a certain distance to find a trap so you may get some moths from a nearby block where they are releasing sterile moths.
To growers who are releasing moths: please tell your neighbors that they might expect to see some sterile moth spillover this season.
Contact
Kacie J Athey
Postdoctoral Scholar
Washington State University
Tree Fruit Research & Extension Center
1100 N. Western Ave., Wenatchee, WA 98801
859-433-8364
kacie.athey@wsu.edu
