[John]

I thought I would mention that with pheromone traps they usually only trap the males which in time can reduce a population of insects. We are currently battling with carpet moths and the traps are effective but don't cure the problem for the same reason. I presume that it will only take one or two fertile females to keep the problem going.

[JTh]

I wonder if there is more in the traps sold by Csalmon^® than pheromones and the colour attracting device, one of the authors (Vuts) from the institute selling this trap wrote in his PhD thesis:

a binary attractant consisting of 2-phenylethanol and (+)-lavandulol was found to be most effective in attracting O. funesta. The funnel trap VARb3z baited with this lure is suitable for detection and monitoring of this scarab.

and in Z Naturforsch C. 2008 Sep-Oct;63(9-10):761-8. 'Development of an attractant-baited trap for Oxythyrea funesta Poda (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae, Cetoniinae) by Vuts J, Imrei Z, Töth M, the abstract says:

In field trapping tests in Hungary the 1:1 blend of (+/-)-lavandulol and 2-phenylethanol attracted significantly more adult O. funesta than the single compounds. ...... There was no difference in the responses of male or female beetles. The binary 2-phenylethanol/(+/-)-lavandulol bait described, in this study is recommended for the use in traps of O. funesta for agricultural purposes.

So the trap seems to catch both male and female beetles.  

[John J]

Mike, At least one 'organic' grower that I have spoken to recently makes his own traps from the sticky yellow cards. By uncovering just one side and folding that inside he makes a triangular trap. He places the pheremone aimed at the specific pest he's targeting in the base and hangs them up in his trees. He claims to have reduced pest damage significantly over the last few years.
He gets his pheremones from a shop in Limassol and it's on my list of things to look into, to find out exactly what pests they are targeting, when I get a spare minute or two. I believe Dimitri Shukuroglou has also begun to stock a limited selection, eg Mediterranean fruit fly. I need to follow that up too. I'll let you know what I find out.

[MikeHardman]

Thanks JohnJ; please do post results here as & when

[Alisdair]

I've changed the title of this thread from your original "Definitely unwanted visitors", Daisy, as I think many more people will find it that way - thanks so much for starting this really interesting topic!

[David Bracey]

Here we go,  I have been in touch with the Hungarians and attach their price list ...........csalomon.orders@julia-nki.hu.

They offer trap VARb3z for two species of Oxythyrea.  The price is euro 4.50 per trap,; no shipping costs mentioned.

There is a list of pests controlled or monitored as long as your arm.  I asked for comparative data but was sent none. I think the traps are worth a trial based on their "cheap" price and other advantages however until you have sound scientific/or practical data I would remain sceptical.

You will need to know how many traps are required OUTDOORS to control the pest. Make sure it is CONTROL and not monitoring.

They have an extensive website. Hope it helps.  If anyone tests these traps please let us know and the results as they will be of tremendous interest........if they work.

[JTh]

It was a great idea to change this to a thread on insect traps, Alisdair.
David, the link you gave below does not give you the price list, but a link to a new email (with an email address that will probably not work).

[John J]

This thread has generated so much interest and activity that I had to carry out my threatened investigation. Unfortunately, it was not as fruitful as I had hoped.
The shop in Limassol stocks just 2 pheromone baits. One against Tuta absoluta that has been attacking tomato crops. This sells at 3 euros 40 cents a capsule.
The other, that the guy in the shop insisted was what was used to protect Citrus, was aimed at Spodoptera littoralis. This retails at 6 euros 50 cents a capsule.
These prices do not include any kind of trap which, I assume, you have to make yourself. With 1 capsule per trap, depending on how many traps you deploy, this could be a very pricey undertaking.

In the Premier Shukuroglou outlet they only stock individual dispensers for Tuta absoluta.
They do sell a supposedly 'biological' product against the Mediterranean fruit fly that can be used on Citrus, Olive, Fig, Apple, Peach, Apricot (I'm quoting here). Apparently this is used as a spray diluted with water at a ratio of 1 litre to 9 litres of water. It is sprayed over an area of the tree (1 sqm) on the side that gets the morning sun (ie East) (I'm quoting again). This needs to be done every 12/14 days. The product is called Success and is made by Dow Agrosciences of the USA. A 1 litre container costs 13 euros 15 cents and a 250 ml one 4 euros 85 cents.

I guess this doesn't really help a great deal, Mike, unless we can track down anyone else in Cyprus who deals in this kind of thing.

[JTh]

I hope those trying any of these insect traps will give us a report of the results.

 I have few roses and so far not had any problems with insect, but I wonder if any of you have had any luck with mass trapping of olive fruit flies. I remember that traps using some kind of yeast was briefly mentioned in the olives thread by Marilyn, and I found some descriptions on : http://cesonoma.ucdavis.edu/files/27230.pdf. The so-called Olipe traps seemed to be easy to make from plastic bottle. They say 'non-food bottles', I wonder why, could 1 1/2 liter water bottles be used? I am not sure what kind of yeast torula yeast is, and where to get it, but there is a long list of suppliers at that website, all of them in the States. And is there any way to improve this by adding other bait?

[MikeHardman]

Just a quick post to say thanks very much, John.
I don't have anything to add at this time, but will keep my thinking cap on.

[Pia]

Thank you very much, I appreciate the very precise advices about when to prune olives
We had also been reading the helpful articles about pruning them on the MGS website, but I was unsure about the time for pruning.
Next question is: do you have an advice how to see which sprouts/twigs are from this year (and will bear fruit next year) ?

Enclosed please find some pictures from May 2011 and November 2011 - what is it?
Picture web 01: there were some web around the flowers.
Pic. web 02: a lot of berries with a black spot/hole.
Pic. web 03: rotten parts on the berries.

Olive fly? We have been reading some articles about it. Some mention that you can put some liquor in water bottles and hang it under the trees to catch the flies. What to put into the bottles? What time of the year to hang the bottles on the trees?

[David Bracey]

You can shape olives most of the year but traditionally they are pruned after harvest.  New wood carries the best fruit and that is true for most fruit trees.  I suppose your olive trees are old?  This makes pruning more difficult especially as the olive trees seem to grow at random.  However after harvest you need to prune old fruiting branches hard to encourage new growth next year, 2013.  Flowers will occur on this wood and then fruit.  Prune this years growth, 2013 to new laterals which will also have grown in 2013.  In this way you can develop a form of renewal pruning where you will always have new growths.

I also trained olives to be picked from the ground.

Pruning garpes is much easier.  Remove all of this year`s growth to 2/3 buds this winter. .  Leave say 4-6 shoots to grow wood next year 2013 and repeat.

Olive fly can be controlled to some extent using yellow sticky papers and pheromone traps.  Syrupy water in bottles will not be v effective. I think you need to start in the 3rd quarter when the olives are beginning to ripen. Check on the net.

The hole in the olive looks like the entrance hole for the olive fly larvae.

Please read the article in TMG no 62 page 58 for more details.

[Alice]

Pia, we have also been told not to worry about the cotton-woolly material but I do wonder if it affects pollination of the flowers.
Your other photos do show olive fly damage. You can buy the liquid that goes in the plastic bottles. I am not sure what it contains but solutions of ammonium carbonate or urea are also used. I have also read that you can use yeast solutions. All these are supposed to attract the flies which then drown. We have not found them effective. Olive flies are trapped (along with many other insects) but I wonder whether more flies are attracted to the trees by them. What are better are the pheromone traps. In Greek nurseries these are sold as longish sticky plastic tubes (green for the olive fly, yellow for the Mediterranean fruit fly). Generally you would hang them on the trees in July-August.

[SandraC]

Hello there....

We are planning to use the anti-olive fly traps suggested by Chevrel Traher (TMG 2007) - ie a solution of Bicarb of Ammonia in bottles hung strategically....

Now does anyone know - and/or is Chevrel out there? - what solution to use.I have managed to run to ground some (pretty expensive) carbonate of Ammonia, and the solution suggested by the pharmacist was 5:1, which would be very strong, and also, given the cost (31 € for a kilo), too expensive. I am hoping a weaker solution would do the trick - any advice???

Sandra

[Alisdair]

In Spain they use about 50g of ammonium bicarbonate to one litre of water in the plastic-bottle traps, hanging one trap per tree if it's to attempt to control the flies rather than just gauge the degree of infestation.