Published in Scientific Papers. Series B, Horticulture, Vol. LXVIII, Issue 2
Written by Ioana-Florina HULUJAN, Orsolya BORSAI, Ion OLTEAN, Ionuț Bogdan HULUJAN, Viorel MITRE, Lehel LUKACS, Mirela Irina CORDEA
Leucoptera malifoliella is a polyphagous leaf miner, which is present across Europe and Asia finding its host plants mostly from the Rosaceae or Betulaceae families. It can cause severe damage in various orchards, especially, pear and apple due to larvae which are feeding on the mesophyll tissue of leaves and cause premature leaf fall and serious yield reduction. Therefore, the main aim of this research was to monitor and investigate the life cycle of the species and the damage caused during 2021 and 2022 on two sweet cherry tree varieties 'Regina’ and 'Regina’. The results show that the pear leaf blister moth has three peaks in flight dynamics, which could correspond to the development of three and one generation during the years 2021 and 2022. The flight of the overwintering males (1-st generation) began in May and the 3-rd generations flew until the 28th of September. The peak of the flight curve for each generation was recorded 2-3 weeks after the start of the flight. The frequency of the attack increased from one generation to another, reaching up to 23.64% in 'Kordia’ and 19.04% in 'Regina’. The intensity of the attack increased as well from one generation to another up to 90% at the end of the season. The average number of mines/leaf was over 7 mines, with a maximum of 23 mines for the 'Regina’ variety and 28 mines for 'Kordia’ leading to a damage level of 17.13% and 21.27% for the two sweet cherry varieties. In 2022 the number of pest generation decreased proving the efficiency of pheromone traps.
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