Common crops affected
Why it matters
Reject percentage is what the handler pays on, and the larva that opens the kernel also carries in the Aspergillus flavus behind aflatoxin. On a well-run program rejects run 1.9 to 2.1 percent; closing that toward 1 percent is worth roughly 131 to 201 dollars an acre.
When to act
Hull split is the trigger, and it is early: the principal application goes on at the beginning of split, no later than 1 percent, judged on sound fruit in the top south-western quadrant just starting to open. Under moderate to high pressure a second window follows 14 to 21 days later. The part most programs leave uncovered is the run from hull split to shake, because every conventional hull-split material carries a 7 to 14 day pre-harvest interval and the moth keeps laying straight through it.
What to look for
- Flattened oval eggs laid singly on the hull surface, white then turning reddish-orange before hatch.
- Larvae with a dark head capsule and a pair of crescent-shaped marks on the segment behind the head.
- Webbing and granular frass inside the nut, usually the first thing noticed.
- Mummy nuts left in the tree or on the floor after harvest, the best single predictor of next season's pressure.
How to manage it
- Get mummies to 0.2 per tree in the tree and 8 per tree on the ground by 1 February, and destroy what you knock down by 1 March.
- Hang mating disruption dispensers midway up the tree from late March.
- Pheromone traps at one per 50 acres from early March; egg traps at one per 10 acres, checked once or twice weekly, to set biofix.
- Apply at the start of hull split, no later than 1 percent, then hold the window on a seven-day interval through to shake.
- Harvest as soon as good removal is achieved. Delayed harvest is the most common reason a program that looked right on paper failed.
Recommended Vegalab program
Spider Mite Control · geraniol nanoemulsion, tolerance-exempt under 40 CFR 180.1251, applied foliar onto the nuts from hull split through shake. It layers onto sanitation and mating disruption rather than replacing either.
| Role | Product | Use |
|---|---|---|
| Principal application | Spider Mite Control | 1:500 · 51 fl oz/acre at 200 gallons of water per acre, foliar onto the nuts at hull split |
| Through the window | Spider Mite Control | Every 7 days from hull split to shake. Zero PHI and zero REI |
| Coverage aid, optional | Jumping Worm Control | 1:800 · 32 fl oz/acre, in tank with the principal application |
Product claims, registrations, rates and availability vary by jurisdiction; always follow the applicable label.