A Two-component Quarantine Treatment for Postharvest Control of Codling Moth on Apple Cultivars Intended for Export to Japan and Korea

Abstract

Confirmatory tests were performed on a two-component quarantine treatment against the codling moth (Cydia pomonella L.) (Lepidoptera: Tortricidae) for seven apple [Malus sylvestris (L.) var. domestica (Borkh.) Mansf.] cultivars ('Delicious,' `Golden Delicious,' `Braeburn,' `Fuji,' `Gala,' `Jonagold,' and `Granny Smith') intended for export to Japan and Korea. Treatment consists of a 55-day cold storage at 40 °F (2.2 °C) or below, followed by a 2-hour methyl bromide fumigation (0.056 oz/ft3 or 56 g·m-3) at 50 °F (10 °C). No eggs or larvae survived this treatment. Comparison tests were conducted on all cultivars to demonstrate no difference in insect responses between a previously accepted cultivar and proposed cultivars. Concentration-mortality responses were determined for each of the components and no statistical differences were found in the regression slopes of pest mortality with controlling variable (either cold exposure or fumigation) among all cultivars. Descriptive mathematical models, developed for the effects of cold storage on egg mortality and for methyl bromide fumigation on larvae mortality, were sigmoid curve equations.