Get 2008 Light Brown Apple Moth National Survey ... - Lbamspray.com

The life span of an adult LBAM is between 2 and 3 weeks, depending on temperature and host plant availability. Major flight periods occur during September-October, December-January, February-March, and April-May.

LBAM larvae feed on leaves and buds reducing photosynthetic rate, deforming growth patterns, which leads to general plant weakness and disfigurement. In grapes, apples, kiwifruit, plums, avocados, and citrus, LBAM larvae can feed directly on the fruit, and resulting feeding damage renders fruit unmarketable.

Light brown apple moths can be effectively managed by combining cultural, biological and chemical control methods. The use of selective insecticides supports natural predator populations, such as spiders, lacewings, earwigs and parasitoids.

These moths have been known to feed on more than 500 different plant species. Some of the most common host plants are alfalfa, apple, blackberry, raspberry, peach, broccoli, cabbage, clover, cottonwood, grape, potatoes, willow and conifer. When feeding, they can easily damage, kill or affect the appearance of plants.

Be sure to empty vacuum contents and wash dusting cloths regularly so that eggs and larvae don't grow and develop. Freeze any clothes or belongings that show signs of moths. Keep these items in the freezer for at least 24 hours to make sure any larvae are killed off. Wash clothes that contain larvae or eggs.

The larvae of this species consume leaf tissue and will damage fruits by feeding on the surface and occasionally tunneling. This pest has very broad feeding preferences. In fact, light brown apple moth has been documented feeding on more than 250 species of plants in over 50 plant families.

Light brown apple moth is a pest native to Australia and believed to infest acacias and other evergreens. It spread to New Zealand, England, Ireland, and Hawaii through various commercial agricultural shipments during the 1800s-1900s (Danthanarayana 1975).

Natural enemies of the moth include species of tachinid fly and ichneumonid wasp. These are parasitoids which deposit their eggs on or within the bodies of the moth larvae. The parasitoid larva hatches and consumes the interior of the moth larva's body, killing the pest larva.