Pheromone-based mating disruption of the tea tussock moth, Euproctis pseudoconspersa, in Camellia japonica street...

The tea tussock moth, Euproctis pseudoconspersa, is a nuisance and defoliating pest of Camellia japonica, widely planted as street and windbreak trees. Pheromone-based mating disruption (MD) is a low-hazard alternative for urban settings; however, its performance in tall, dense canopies remains elusive. Herein, we investigated seasonal flight activity, vertical flight distribution and MD efficacy across 3 years (2023-2025) in roadside C. japonica stands in Jeju, Republic of Korea.

Pheromone monitoring of male moths showed two distinct flight periods per year. Furthermore, racemic 10,14-dimethylpentadecyl isobutyrate consistently attracted males. Male capture inhibition (MCI) was 34.8% when MD dispensers were deployed only at 1.5 m. Contrastingly, vertically distributing dispensers within the canopy (≈1, 3 and 5 m) increased MCI to 84.2-95.8% across subsequent trials. In 2025, leaf damage was decreased from 10.5% (control) to 2.0% (MD), corresponding to 81.0% damage reduction. Dispensers released pheromone for >60 days, whereas each male flight period lasted for ≈30 days. This indicates potential for decreasing pheromone loading to enhance cost-efficiency without compromising disruption.

MD can effectively suppress E. pseudoconspersa in tall C. japonica street-tree systems when dispensers are deployed at several canopy heights. Optimizing dispenser loading and enhancing deployment technologies (e.g. assisted canopy installation) may further improve feasibility in urban and forest environments. © 2026 Society of Chemical Industry.