Article info.

ABSTRACT

Received 10 Jun 2017
Revised 06 Sep 2017

Accepted 30 Mar 2018

The citrus pock caterpillar (CPC), Prays endocarpa, is an important insect pest of “Nam roi” pomelo in the Mekong Delta of Vietnam. In order to establish an efficient timing for a sustainable management program of CPC, monitoring the population dynamics and ratios of infected pomelo fruits at Binh Tan district, Vinh Long province had been conducted by use of sex pheromone traps and field investigation. The CPC adult flight and CPC larval infestation on pomelo fruits presented through out the year. However, high numbers of CPC captured males and ratios of larval infected fruits were observed in the dry season (from November to May) indicating the generation overlapping and negative effect of rainfall on the CPC population. Closely (tight) positive correlation between numbers of captured CPC males by pheromone traps and ratios of larval infected fruits with the correlation coefficient r of 0.77 (P = 0.00000364, one tailed probability or 0.00000727, two tailed probability); df = 23) and the regression equation of y = 0.3283x + 7.1766 revealed that numbers of males captured by sex pheromone traps can be used for estimation of the action threshold for CPC.

Keywords

Correlation coefficient, monitoring, Prays endocarpa, sex pheromone, (Z)-7-tetradecenal

Cited as: Vang, L.V., Son, P.K. and Khanh, C.N.Q., 2018. Monitoring population dynamics of the citrus pock caterpillar (Prays endocarpa) by sex pheromone traps in the Mekong Delta of Vietnam. Can Tho University Journal of Science. 54(2): 35-39.