Abstract

The raspberry beetle, Byturus tomentosus, is an important pest of raspberries in the UK and continental Europe. Until now, the main method of controlling this pest was the use of insecticides. However, consumer pressure and perceived risk to the environment have led to the EU reviewing the pesticides available to control agricultural pests, weeds and diseases. With the reduction in the number of insecticides available, growers are seeking alternative ways of controlling pests that do not rely as heavily on insecticide use. One such method being developed at the Scottish Crop Research Institute, UK, is a "lure and kill" system for raspberry beetles in raspberry production. The result of a set of experiments which tested the efficiency of combining an identified flower attractant with a standard white non-UV reflective trap on the number of beetles caught was shown. There was a 30-fold increase in the number of beetles caught on the enhanced traps. A comparison of the levels of berry damage in areas surrounding the traps showed that there was no significant difference in the level of damage in the areas containing the standard trap and the areas containing the enhanced trap. The use of these visually attractive traps in combination with the identified key flower volatiles was studied to reduce the amount of damage caused by the raspberry beetle below a level that requires the input of insecticides. This should enable conventional growers to reduce insecticide inputs to acceptable levels and offer new control strategies for organic growers.