2024 Volume 66 Pages 89-91
In Japan, there is a cultural practice of consuming salted cherry leaves (Prunus speciosa), and edible cherry leaves are intentionally cultivated for this purpose. Synanthedon hector Butler, also referred to as the Japanese cherry tree borer, is a known pest of cherry trees. Its larvae feed on the tree trunks and cause serious damage. Hence, we investigated the disruptive effect on communication by employing mating disruptants using synthetic sex pheromones (synanthelure) and assessed the seasonal prevalence of S. hector adults in edible cherry leaf fields. In the fields treated with a mating disruptant, no S. hector male adults were attracted. In contrast, in untreated fields, S. hector male adults were attracted from late April to October, with peak attraction being observed in May, July, and September (multimodal type of occurrence). These results suggest that the communication disruption effect of pheromones on S. hector is extremely high. Moreover, this high communication disruption effect could continue until autumn if pheromones are installed by late April.
