California Red Scale 4th Flight Update
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In the Central Valley of California, depending on location, the fourth flight of California Red Scale Aonidiella aurantii in citrus would have started between the 20th and 30th of August based on degree-day accumulation.
Pheromone traps for male scale that are out now are an indicator for the need to apply control measures for the first crawler emergence next year. The University of California suggests that orchards having traps capturing more than 1000 males per week at this time should be considered as needing treatment (see UC ANR Citrus Pest Management Guidelines). Growers already using Suterra® CheckMate® CRS dispensers in their orchards should expect an 85 to 95 percent reduction in CRS trap capture, and that needs to be taken into account when making management decisions.
Suterra’s CheckMate® CRS has been proven effective at reducing California Red Scale populations when used as a part of an integrated management plan. CheckMate® CRS dispensers are controlled-release pheromone sources that will last an entire calendar year with one application. When used in combination with other control measures (organic or conventional), CheckMate® CRS will work to keep California Red Scale populations from infesting fruit, damaging trees and spreading through an orchard.
If California Red Scale pheromone traps are filling up, or if developing fruit are showing live scale on them, talk to your pest control advisor, UC extension agent or Suterra representative. Visit Suterra’s California Red Scale page to learn how CheckMate® CRS can bring California Red Scale under control and keep it there.
