Investigation of presence, distribution and flight period of oak leaf roller moth, Tortrix viridana (Lep.: Tortricidae) using pheromone traps in Kurdistan province

Forests cover about 5,200,000 hectares of the west of Iran, from which 500,000 hectares are located in Kurdistan province. One of the most important pests in the oak forests of this province is oak leaf roller moth, Tortrix viridana L. (Lep.: Tortricidae). This pest significantly damages the oak forest each year. Using pheromone trap is one of the suitable methods for monitoring of this pest. In this work, distribution and flight period of the pest were studied by pheromone traps during two years. Fifteen regions were trapped at the equal distances (40 km) from Kamyaran (south west of Kurdistan province) to Baneh (north west of Kurdistan province) to investigate the presence and distribution of this moth. Also, a region located between Sanandaj and Marivan was selected to study the flight period. Some traps were established in this region and checked every two days. Investigation of pest distribution showed that oak leaf roller moth was present all over the sites from Kamyaran to Baneh. Different populations of moth were trapped in all over the sites. The highest population was trapped in Colit region (mid-west of Kurdistan province). The study of flight period showed that first moths were trapped on May, 16th and the peak of the flight took place on May, 21st and finally the last moths were trapped on June, 24th. Therefore, adults activated during 40 days; mating and oviposition occurred during this period. Incubation period lasted 9 months and activation of larvae was coincident with flashing of foliar buds.