In the Ufa limonaria declared war on pests. They set up pheromone traps. Specialists of the Rosselkhoznadzor Administration use these unusual devices to attract quarantine insects.
How exactly the trap works and where else it is installed, Gulnaz Nuraeva found out.
It’s only from the outside that it looks like ordinary duct tape. But in fact, a trap against a specific pest. In this case, it is used to protect lemons from western flower thrips. The principle of operation is simple. A special bait is impregnated with a substance secreted by the female thrips. Males feel it hundreds of meters away and fall into a trap.
Zulfiya Karimova, State Inspector of the Department of Plant Quarantine, Grain Quality Control and Seed Control of the Rosselkhoznadroz Administration for the Republic of Belarus:
“A pheromone with a certain smell is installed on the pheromone trap, to which this type of pest flies, absolutely safe for humans and the environment.”
A simple device was installed in the greenhouse for exactly 30 days. After the expiration of this period, the pheromone traps will be removed and sent to the Bashkir testing laboratory. Among the mass of insects caught, experts will have to identify the same quarantine.
The active period of flowering of lemons is left behind. But in the Ufa lemonarium there are more than 500 various plants, which means that spring reigns here all year round.
Flower thrips is dangerous for them not only because it damages plants, but also because it is a carrier of viruses.
Farida Sadykova, head of the educational and experimental farm “Limonary”:
“Both pests and beneficial insects – everyone feels good here, because it is warm here, the air is humid, there is a lot of light. They reproduce actively. Therefore, these pheromone traps are a biological method, it is, of course, much better than, for example, we would use strong pesticides.”
During the years of monitoring with the help of pheromone traps, no quarantine insects were detected in the lemon garden. And yet, this greenhouse facility is under the special supervision of specialists, since here they not only use imported seeds and seedlings, but also receive guests from all over the world.
Gulnaz Nuraeva, correspondent:
“Pheromone traps are installed not only in greenhouses, but also in nurseries, in forests, and even in warehouses where grain or imported vegetables and fruits are stored. Each specific case has its own pheromone trap with a certain smell.”
To date, monitoring with pheromone traps is one of the most accurate methods for controlling the number of quarantine and non-quarantine pests. Next time, experts will install another trap in a lemonarium with a completely different “aroma”.
