Evaluation of the push-pull tactic against the mountain pine beetle using verbenone and non-host volatiles in combination with pheromone-baited trees

Experiments were conducted near Williams Lake and Quesnel, BC in 2003 to evaluate the effectiveness of the anti-aggregation pheromone verbenone and a three-component non-host volatile (NHV) blend (E-2- and Z-3-hexen-1-ol and benzyl alcohol) in deterring attack of lodgepole pines, Pinus contorta var. latifolia Engelmann, by the mountain pine beetle, Dendroctonus ponderosae Hopkins. In 0.16-ha square plots, with a pheromone-baited tree in the centre and 16 release points at 10-m centres, either verbenone (in a polyurethane gel inside plastic membrane pouches, released at ca. 100 mg/day) or the NHVs (released from separate bubble caps at ca. 1.2 mg/day) deterred attack, but efficacy was not increased by combining them. When deployed from 25 release points at 10-m centres in 0.25-ha square plots, verbenone plus NHVs were effective in deterring attack in some (but not all) cases, when compared to attack in a 25-m wide band around the treated zone. In a test of the push-pull tactic, verbenone plus the NHV blend were tested in a 10-replicate experiment with 100, 44.4 or 25 release points/ha at 10-, 15- or 20-m centres, respectively, in a 1-ha square central zone surrounded by a 3-ha, 50-m-wide band containing 12 pheromone-baited lodgepole pines 50 m apart. Other treatments were pheromonebaited trees alone, and an untreated control. In the three push-pull treatments (but not the bait only or control treatments), 28 of 30 replicates had significantly more mass-attacked trees in the pheromone-baited outer 3 ha than in the inner ha treated with verbenone plus NHVs. The percentage of available trees ≥ 17.5 cm diameter at breast height (dbh) that were mass-attacked was < 10% in 5, 4 and 3 of 10 replicates when verbenone plus NHVs were deployed at 10-, 15- and 20-m centres, respectively, and was < 10% in two each of the bait only and control replicates. The mean ratios of newly-attacked green trees in 2003 to red trees killed in 2002 were significantly lower in the inner ha of the 10-m and 15-m centre treatments (2.6 and 2.7, respectively) than 5.9 in the untreated control. Also the pooled percentages of attacked trees that were not mass-attacked were significantly higher in the inner ha of the treatments with centres at 15 m (24.7%) and 10 m (17.6%) than in the other three treatments (all between 12% and 13%). Despite the apparent efficacy in 10-m and 15-m centre treatments, some replicates failed spectacularly. Failure was not significantly related to the incidence of red trees, but was negatively related to density/ha of available trees and positively related to mean dbh. We recommend operational implementation of the push-pull tactic at 10-m or 15-m centres when the density of available lodgepole pines is > 400/ha, the mean dbh is ≤ 25 cm, current attack is ≤ 15%, and the tactic is part of an integrated pest management program that includes sanitation harvesting. Using verbenone alone at 15-m centres would cost $380/ha (CAD), excluding labour. Key words: mountain pine beetle, Dendroctonus ponderosae, lodgepole pine, Pinus contorta var. latifolia, pheromones, semiochemicals, pest management