Damage and Non-Chemical Control of Rose Plume Moth in Kerman, Iran

Damask rose is the national flower of Iran. Kerman province holds the second position after Fars province with 4932 hectares of Rosa damascena garden in Iran. In recent years, rose plume moth Cnaemidophorus (Eucnaemidophorus) rhododactylus (Lepidoptera: Pterophoridae) has spread in different regions in Kerman province. In the present study, damage of this pest was investigated from 2017 to 2019. Larval nutritional activity began simultaneously with the growth of leaf buds but the main damage was caused by feeding the larvae to the flower buds and caused 59.40, 62.59 and 66.57 percent damage to buds of damask rose, respectively. Based on the test of several non-chemical insecticides (neemazal, Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt), palizin, tondexir, and abamectin), in 2020 and 2021, neemazal treatment was more effective, respectively, with 57.42±2.01 and 52.47±3.96 percentages (followed by Bt), than the other treatments of this experiment. On the other hand, abamectin had the least effect on controlling this pest. This experiment was conducted in the form of a randomized complete block design with 6 treatments with 3 replications and 25 plants in each replication.