Project Overview

Reports

Commodities

• Additional Plants: trees

• Animals: bees

• Fruits: apples, tree fruit

Target Pests

Practices

• Pest Management: behavioral control, decision support system, mating disruption, monitoring/scouting, pesticide application timing

• Crop Production: varieties and cultivars

Dogwood borer (Synanthedon scitula, hereafter DWB) has re-emerged as a highly damaging pest of Midwest apple orchards, particularly those adopting modern high-density systems. Although historically considered a minor pest, the intersection of (1) changing orchard architecture, (2) restriction of key insecticide chemistries (e.g., chlorpyrifos), (3) lack of pheromone registrations in the North Central region, and (4) prolonged, unpredictable seasonal emergence places growers at substantial risk. These challenges have outpaced our understanding of DWB biology, rendering current integrated pest management (IPM) practices ineffective and/or unrealistic. As a result, apple growers in the Midwest are left with few solutions, particularly those small-scale, diversified, and U-pick operations in Indiana and Ohio. While these states feature lower apple acreages (1000-5500 acres), these farms are foundational to agritourism economies and provide essential diversity to regional fruit markets. Increasingly, these growers are reporting tree decline, reduced vigor, and outright tree loss because of DWB. One collaborating U-pick orchard in Indiana lost >200 trees over three seasons, corresponding to $5,000–6,000 in economic losses annually. 

In this proposal, we aim to produce evidence-based management solutions for DWB in the North Central region. Specifically, we aim to 1) establish a multistate monitoring network to characterize adult dogwood borer phenology in the Midwest, 2) evaluate mating disruption performance across varied landscape contexts and 3) develop user-friendly extension resources with these findings. In initiating this work, we hope to continue our efforts in securing additional funding to further this work for regionally relevant strategies that consider total orchard health and resilience. This project directly advances multiple current NC-IPM Center priorities. We support the development and dissemination of IPM knowledge and tools through region-specific DWB emergence datasets, mating disruption performance data, and practical timing guidelines tailored to Midwest apple systems. We are integrating research and extension efforts across Ohio and Indiana to strengthen state and regional IPM partnerships, enabling coordinated responses to a re-emerging pest. The project also reduces environmental impact of pest management by improving access to pheromone-based tools and decreasing reliance on broad-spectrum insecticides. Further, our project will identify and forecast DWB emergence. Collectively, these impacts improve crop system sustainability, conserve non-target organisms through reduced insecticide inputs, and ensure more reliable production for regional food systems.

1) Establish a multistate monitoring network to characterize the presence and seasonal activity of adult dogwood borer in apple.

2) Test the impact of mating disruption across different landscape contexts.

3) Develop and disseminate region-specific IPM guidelines for dogwood borer management in Midwest apple orchards.