AUGUST
19, 2008
RESULTS OF INDEPENDENT STUDY DEMONSTRATE THAT ISCA TECHNOLOGIES'
SPLAT LBAM OUTPERFORMS LEADING MATING DISRUPTION FORMULATIONS
The light brown apple moth (LBAM), Epiphyas postvittana
(Tortricidae), is a native pest of Australia and is now widely distributed
New Zealand, the United Kingdom, Ireland, and New Caledonia. Although it
was reported in Hawaii in the late 1800s, a recent LBAM detection in California
is the first on the United States mainland. The USDA confirmed the detection
of LBAM in Alameda County, California on March 22, 2007.
LBAM is of particular concern because it can damage more than 2,000 plants
including more than 250 farm crops, California’s prized cypress as well
as redwoods, oaks and many other varieties commonly found in California’s
urban and suburban landscaping, public parks and natural environment.
In 2007, USDA and CDFA convened a group to discuss eradication of LBAM
in California. They selected mating disruption using species specific,
nature identical LBAM pheromones as the primary tool for the current eradication
efforts. A competitor’s product was chosen, but its unexpected biological
inefficiency prompted the group to recommend that CDFA and USDA test other
available LBAM pheromone formulations.
During the winter of 2007/08, CDFA and USDA commissioned an independent
field test in New Zealand of the available LBAM pheromone formulations
in an attempt to identify the most effective aerially applied mating disruption
product for controlling LBAM. Four products were applied by air and measured
against a manually applied positive control and an untreated negative control.
Of all pheromone formulations
tested, the aerially applied SPLAT LBAM clearly outperformed
and lasted longer than any other formulation, including the
commercial standard, which is manually applied (see charts
below). Note: low trap catches indicate effective mating disruption.
During the first week, most products appear similar. However,
the pattern looks significantly different 10 weeks later;
while the other products show a breakdown in mating disruption
(10-18 moths per trap) SPLAT is capturing less than one moth
per trap (ca. 0.63).
SPLAT LBAM has not only proven itself as an effective aerially applied
mating disruption product, but an independent science review has confirmed
that “all inert ingredients in SPLAT LBAM are cleared for food use.”
For more information about SPLAT, please visit: SPLAT Homepage
For more information about SPLAT LBAM, please visit: Product
Brochure - SPLAT LBAM.

The chart above shows the log catch per trap in
week 1. Control group is the untreated area, Shin Etsu's
Twist-ties were the manually applied standard.
Groups A, B, and C represent other competitor's products.
Notice that SPLAT LBAM provides excellent disruption
of LBAM (lower trap catch indicates effective mating disruption).
The chart above shows the log catch per trap
in week 10. Control group is the untreated area, Shin
Etsu's Twist-ties were
the manually applied
standard.
Groups A, B, and C represent other competitor's products.
Notice that SPLAT LBAM maintains excellent disruption
from week 1 through week 10 (lower trap catch indicates
effective mating disruption).

The chart above shows the percent suppression
by week. Shin Etsu's Twist-ties were the manually applied
standard.
Groups A, B, and C represent other competitor's products.
This chart
shows that SPLAT LBAM maintains excellent disruption
from week 1 through week 10, while suppression by competitor's
products
varied greatly over time (higher % suppression indicates
effective mating disruption).