Pre-harvest survival of codling moth in artificially infested sweet cherry fruits

Prior to the 2009 season, sweet cherry fruits, Prunus avium (L.) L., from North America were required to be fumigated with methyl bromide before being exported to Japan to eliminate possible infestation by codling moth, Cydia pomonella (L.) (Lepidoptera: Tortricidae). However, based on recent biological research on host status, a new procedure (the “systems approach”) was implemented relying on the cumulative effects of pre- and post-harvest practices to produce pest-free sweet cherry fruits for export. This is an organized process that involves the integration of procedures used in the production, harvest, packaging, and distribution of a commodity which cumulatively meet the requirements for quarantine security. The objective of our study was to provide additional information to support the systems approach for codling moth in sweet cherries fruits. For four seasons, branches with sweet cherry fruits were caged on trees and infested by released ovipositing codling moths into the cages. Fruits were sampled weekly for codling moth individuals at each life stage. Eggs were laid mostly on leaves with the seasonal average numbers per cage ranging from 142 to 617. Populations declined rapidly after egg eclosion, with <1.5% of the original cohort surviving to fifth instars. Even after 8 weeks, none had formed cocoons or pupated. This failure of the codling moth to complete a life cycle under field conditions supports previous life history studies and demonstrates that sweet cherry fruits are inadequate hosts for codling moth.