Image courtesy of USDA/ARS

Plum Curculio

Plum Curculio

Plum Curculio (Conotrachelus nenuphar) is a fruit pest attacking apple, nectarine, plum, cherry, peach, apricot, pear and quince.  Adults eat holes in fruit and then lay eggs.

Monitoring

The lure is two component, pheromone + plant volatile.  It is used in Dead-Inn pyramid traps for monitoring or can be placed in trees.

Photo by Clemson Univ./USDA Slide Series

USDA Trap Tree vs. Whole Orchard Spray

USDA Management Approach to Plum Curculio (link)

Visually attractive trap that exploits tendency to walk up vertical surface and captured into a single collection device.  

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Want to know more?

For information on description, biology and fruit damage:

• Virginia Tech - Fact Sheets

For information on monitoring with pyramid traps and lures:

• University of Florida - Dr. Russell F. Mizell - Professor of Entomology
  

• USDA - National Agricultural Library

For information on trap trees:

• New England Vegetable and Fruit Conference - Ronald J. Prokopy - University of Massachusetts