Estimation of the adult mortality of the Japanese pine sawyer, Monochamus alternatus Hope (Coleoptera: Cerambycidae), due to aerial application of insecticide (MEP-MC) in Sakurajima [Kagoshima, Japan]

We captured adult Japanese pine sawyer, Monochamus alternatus, after aerial application of microcapsules containing fenitrothion (MEP-MC) using live traps with chemical attractants in 10 Japanese black pine stands in Sakurajima. MEP was detected from the adults captured in the stands 39, 51, and 33 days after aerial application of MEP-MC in 2004, 2005, and 2006, respectively. Adults contaminated with MEP were also captured in unsprayed pine stands 4∼5 km away from the MEP-sprayed area 4 and 5 days after aerial application in 2004 and 2005, respectively. Based on the data of the capture of adults and detection of MEP from the adults captured in MEP-sprayed and unsprayed pine stands, we estimated the mortality of the adults due to MEP-MC application in 2005 and 2006 as 62 and 76%, respectively, in the sprayed stand, and 62 and 66%, respectively, in an adjacent pine stand to the MEP-sprayed area. These results suggest that aerial application of MEP-MC would be an effective measure to prevent the prevalence of pine wilt disease.