Skip to main content
Entomology 2025 Main banner
Icon Legend
This session is not in your schedule.
This session is in your schedule. Click again to remove it.
 
Oral Presentation
Oral Presentation
Poster Display
Poster Display
Student Competition
Student Competition
Ticketed Event
Ticketed Event

10-Minute Presentation

Plant-Insect Ecosystems

10-min: P-IE, IPM - Horticulture 2

Understanding seasonal phenology of carpophilus beetle in California’s nut orchards

Tuesday, November 11, 2025
4:48 PM - 5:00 PM Pacific
Location: Oregon Convention Center, E146, OCC
Oral Presentation
Carpophilus beetle, Carpophilus truncatus Murray (Coleoptera: Nitidulidae), is an emerging invasive pest of tree nuts in California. This pest has caused significant economic losses to the Australian almond industry over the past decade and is now threatening California’s almond industry. Since this is a new pest in California, we have investigated the seasonal phenology of C. truncatus in multiple orchards in California using pheromone and emergence cage traps. For the emergence cage study, remnant almond nuts, “mummy nuts,” from last year’s harvest were collected during the spring and caged into fabric cages that were installed in the ground. The adult activities of the carpophilus beetle were monitored by checking the collection jar of the cage weekly, from spring through fall. Ten nuts were collected from the cage and inspected under the stereoscope for the presence of eggs and larvae on a weekly basis. The 2024 season results showed that adult beetles become active and fly to the collection jar of the cage from the beginning of June. However, the egg and larvae remain active in mummy nuts throughout the season, beginning in April. We have continued this study in 2025. In addition, we are monitoring carpophilus beetle activities using new pheromone lures combined with a co-attractant in a few almond, pistachio, and walnut orchards. This specific lure baited traps captured the majority of C. truncatus. The results will be crucial in understanding the seasonal phenology of this beetle and in developing targeted pest management strategies in California.