Pheromone-mediated mating disruption of the European grain moth Nemapogon granellus in ham factories

Nemapogon granellus is a lepidopteran species that can cause significant damage to stored animal products such as meats, sausages and cheeses. In the warehouses where such products are stored, pheromone-based control approaches can avoid or reduce insecticide chemical treatments and be more effective than traditional control methods. This study aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of mating disruption (MD) techniques to control N. granellus populations in ham factories. Trials were conducted in two factories located in Northern Italy. In both locations two warehouses were selected: a warehouse test where dispensers, loaded with 10 mg of N. granellus pheromone, were deployed at a density ranging from 1 unit/22.5 m (factory A) to 1 unit/25 m (factory B), and a control warehouse left untreated. To assess the mating disruption efficacy, the reduction of the number of mated females in water traps, placed in control and treated warehouses, was used as main parameter. The results indicated a substantial reduction in mated females in the treated warehouses in comparison with control warehouses in both the sites of experiments. In detail, the total number of mated females sampled in water traps was above 90% in control warehouses, in warehouses treated with MD technique this percentage was below 50%. In addition, a "trap shutdown" effect was recorded in MD treated warehouses of both factories. These findings suggest that mating disruption is a promising technique that can be positively applied in the integrated pest management of N. granellus in ham factories.