Potato tuberworm, potato tubermoth (Phthorimaea operculella)
Pest description and crop damage During the growing season, tuberworm caterpillars feed as leaf miners inside leaves. They later may live inside stems or within groups of leaves tied together with silk. Tubers are also a food source for the caterpillars, especially exposed tubers and those within 2 inches of the soil surface. Larvae can infest tubers by leaving the foliage and finding available tubers to invade, or adults may find exposed tubers for egg laying. Regardless of the method, tuber damage is the main concern with tuberworms.
Tuber damage is often near the surface, consisting of broad, flat tunnels or furrows in the skin. Caterpillars may also burrow deep into tubers. Tunnels left by tuberworms look dirty, and their openings may be marked by collected droppings of the caterpillar.
Biology and life history Tuberworm in the PNW overwinters as a fully fed caterpillar or pupa, either in potato storage buildings or associated with tubers left in the field after harvest. Observations in Washington and Oregon have confirmed population buildup in fields after harvest, with moths living in the tubers remaining in the field. Adult moths are present throughout the winter in the Columbia Basin of Oregon and Washington. Tuberworm undergoes at least 3 generations per year in central Washington and Oregon. Populations are small early in the season due to the bottle-neck of overwintering. The heat of summer encourages populations to grow, with the most tuberworm activity occurring in September and October. Moths disperse during the growing season and can spread far from their presumed overwintering locations by the end of the growing season. For more Information, see https://extension.oregonstate.edu/catalog/pub/pnw-594-biology-management... .
Scouting and thresholds The simplest way to monitor tuberworm is to use pheromone-baited traps to catch adult male moths. The recommended established treatment thresholds in the PNW is 8-10 moths per trap per day. We know that pheromone traps are very effective at detecting the presence of tuberworm in an area. For the large fields common in the Columbia Basin, it is best to have more than one trap per field to be sure infestations are detected. Traps must be places in the direction of prevailing winds. For detailed information on monitoring tuberworm using pheromone traps, see: nwpotatoresearch.com/pdfs/PotatoProgressVIII(10).pdf.
Management-biological control
Parasitoid wasps have been observed to kill some tuberworm larvae, but prevalence appears to be low. Research shows that a tuberworm-specific virus has potential for controlling tuberworm via application with commercial equipment, but no virus product is currently available on the market in the U.S.
Management-cultural control
Tuber damage is the most important aspect of tuberworm management, and there are some simple means to help protect tubers from infestation. Prompt harvesting after vine kill can be very effective. Harvesting under green vines may be best, since tuberworm prefers living in the foliage. Keeping soil wet, especially as vines die, may be very important. Anything that keeps tubers more than 2 inches deep will be protective; deep tuber set, hilling practices, or covering hills after vine kill can prevent tuber damage. Potatoes should not be grown under furrow irrigation in areas where tuberworm is prevalent.
Management-chemical control: HOME USE
- cyfluthrin
- esfenvalerate
- permethrin
- pyrethrins (often as a mix with other ingredients)-Some formulations are OMRI-listed for organic use.
- zeta-cypermethrin
Management-chemical control: COMMERCIAL USE
Most products labeled for tuberworm control seem to reduce larval populations very effectively in foliage. How this translates to tuber protection is still uncertain. Tuberworm management, in the long term, will almost certainly have to include various cultural methods, in combination with insecticides. All fields potentially exposed to tuberworm should be monitored using pheromone traps. Some products, other than those listed below, may soon have tuberworm control claims on their labels.
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