I am interested in encouraging natural enemies of oriental fruit moth (OFM) because they just devastate the late tree fruit in southern California/San Diego.
I read the book “Teaming with Microbes” and it really encouraged me to set up a diverse ecosystem in my yard, basically so everything is getting eaten by something else and it all ends up in balance.
In southern California the limitation is soil. Unless we are intentional, our ground is bare scorched earth. So I laid out a ton of mulch in my yard. The mulch gets eaten by bacteria and fungi, which gets eaten by tiny insects, which gets eaten by bigger insects, etc. Once the predators come into the picture, they eat the bad bugs and everything is in balance because you have a population of predators that will munch on whatever is overpopulated.
The problem with oriental fruit moth is that only one generation (overwintering) is on the ground (I believe, correct me if that is wrong). My understanding is through the year the moth lays eggs in the tree, larvae hatch and eat the growing shoots, then another generation comes and eats the fruit, etc. After the first generation in the spring, this all happens above ground. There are several generations per season. I found that in my yard, OFM gets to about 0% of the early peaches, 30% of mid-season peaches, and 100% of late peaches. Maybe that will change but that is my experience so far.
If I want to get to OFM in the tree I need tree-dwelling predators, which hopefully I will get more of. I saw a praying mantis egg sac right next to my peaches so that is good. The other thing I need is birds to eat the larvae and bats to eat the moths. Apparently one bat will eat up to 5,000 mosquitos in a night. Not sure how many moths they eat but even if it was just one per night it would be worth it. I set out a bat box but we do not have bats yet. I do see birds jump around the yard.
Does anyone have experience with this? It is a fun project but there is a lot I don’t know yet.
In theory, braconid wasps will kill OFM. I have tried to attract them, in a very limited scope, with a variety of flowers near my east coast peaches. I have not noticed a significant change.
I tried using a bug zapper (not exactly natural) bated with OFM phermones. I did kill many nocturnal moths. I am not sure how many of them were OFM. I thought that it made a difference at first, but as the season wore on, any effect seemed to dissipate.
My current opinion as to the best way for me to grow peaches is through a physical barrier. Surround WP has worked for me. I hate spraying as much as the next person, perhaps even more. If I want peaches, this is what I have to do. The OFM still go crazy eating my peach shoots, but that does not appear to have a major impact on my peach crop.
I have thought about trying to make toad houses with solar night lights at the base of my peach trees. In reality, I probably will not do this, but we do have a pretty good supply of toads in the backyard.
As far as birds, for OFM you will need a nighttime predator. I am not sure which birds in your location fit the bill, if any.
Good luck, please let us know of your successes with OFM!
Looking back in my notes, besides braconid wasps, there appear to be other characters that attack OFM including: strawberry leafrollers, sunflower moths, ragweed borers, and ichneumon wasps. EDIT: Strawberry leafrollers, sunflower moths, ragweed borers are alternate food sources for braconid wasps. You have to keep them fed if you want them around!
That is a clever idea. If I understand you right, you wanted to make a toad house, and then a light source that attracts the moths for the toad. Those are going to be some seriously spoiled toads.
I did not realize the larvae are nocturnal also but that makes sense, and anyway they quickly bury themselves in the fruit or in the tips so either way, they are protected.
I was able to find more information on the coddling moth than OFM and it looks like woodpeckers will dig for the larvae, as will some other birds. They probably do that for both.
I heard a speaker this week at a CRFG meeting talk about the positive role of insect-eating birds. Her organization is here:
I learned a lot. For example, it sounds like there are a lot of varieties of birds that figure out how to get at coddling moth. We know less about oriental fruit moth but if there is food, the birds figure out how to get it. She said to have diverse plants so there are lots of bugs, and provide nesting habitat, and these insectivorous birds will protect the crops.
Lot of moths this year. Hardly any predator birds that I can see. Bat houses are empty. I bought these pheromone traps. Lots of moths in there. I assume these are OFM (oriental fruit moth)?
I love the idea of permaculture but it is not easy. And I want to eat my peaches this year! So I am trying these pheromone traps.
They have them on amazon. I think i did a google search though for cheaper prices, I don’t remember which site i used. They are pricey so I hope they make a difference.
Good thought! The question is whether ofm has any other host than stone fruit? I am the main grower of stone fruit among my neighbors. So for now I am saying “bring the battle to me!”
Maybe it was random luck but I had slightly less oriental fruit moth last year, not sure if it was diversifying perennial flowering plants for permaculture or the scent of the pheromones confusing the mating… or just the trees maturing so shoots were less tender.
This year I plan on spraying surround around the trunks to knock down the first generation. I did that a few days ago, and then it rained, so I have to repeat. I think it might have been Michael Phillips who said to do it weekly early in the season and then they are substantially less prevalent that year.
In the Fall and early Spring apply granular Gnatrol (or the generic) under my fruit trees and in the pots of our repository plants. Still see a few fruit beetles each year but no OFM or black fig fly.
