Integrated Pest Management Practices for the Light Brown Apple Moth in New Zealand: Implications for California

The Light Brown Apple Moth, Epiphyas postvittana (LBAM) has been an established exotic species in New Zealand for more than 100 years. The authors conducted a three-week, 3,000-kilometer fact-finding study in New Zealand’s two major agricultural regions to assess integrated pest management (IPM) of LBAM and applicable strategies for California. LBAM was considered a problem pest in New Zealand orchards during the 1980s when regular, calendar applications of broad-spectrum organophosphate pesticides had eliminated the beneficial insects that prey on LBAM. However, since elimination of organophosphate treatments in 2001 and subsequent restoration of populations of beneficial insects and other organisms, LBAM is considered a minor pest that does not cause economically significant crop damage or have detrimental effect on native flora. Today, LBAM is effectively controlled almost exclusively by natural predators in both agricultural settings and wild lands in New Zealand. There is no evidence of biological or environmental threat from LBAM in New Zealand. Because of United States ’ zero-toleranc