PROJECT DESCRIPTION
BACKGROUND
The spongy moth (Lymantria dispar) is one of the most damaging pests of forests in Europe, Asia, North America, and Africa. It feeds upon over 500 plant species and is a species of quarantine/phytosanitary importance in many eco-zones. Serious outbreaks of spongy moth infestations in forests have affected millions of hectares in the U.S. and in Europe, resulting in significant timber loss, big financial losses, and millions of hectares affected by negative impacts, which then trickled down to terrestrial/aquatic organisms. It has also caused losses in urban and suburban forests. Various insecticides have been used for its control, often through aerial sprayings, which in turn negatively affect biodiversity, frequently fail, and are inappropriate or cannot be used in urban and recreational areas. Many of the insecticides tested have high mammalian toxicity, contaminate soil and water, and their use for area-wide management is questionable for both health and environmental reasons. The spongy moth also poses a health risk to people, causing dermatitis and hives (after contact with caterpillars or airborne hairs), patchy erythema, erythematous and urticarial papules, and linear streaks, raising serious public health concerns. The control of the spongy moth using methodologies that are safe for the environment and human health is thus of high importance. Recently, traps and pheromones used to successfully control other urban species (e.g., Thaumetopoea pityocampa through the LIFE PISA project) have provided good examples for the development of methods to control spongy moth with minimal pesticide use
OBJECTIVES
The basic aim of LIFE eGymer was to demonstrate non-chemical pest control methods for spongy moth (Lymantria dispar) by developing and implementing smart traps, pheromone traps, and traps for the larval stage and mating disruption techniques. The project team also remotely monitored and effectively controlled more than one life stage of the spongy moth and, most importantly, allowed a much wider application time window compared to chemical control methods.
Specific objectives were to:
- design and develop novel recyclable e-traps for the capture of larvae and adults, further developing the technology that the project LIFE PISA produced and adapting mass trapping and mating disruption methods as judicious control strategies for spongy moth, eliminating dependence on chemicals and their consequent negative environmental impact;
- continuously monitor infestation levels with the use of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) and provide early warnings to management bodies, preventing the moth from spreading and allowing biological control with non-toxic agents;
- minimise infestation levels in target areas, demonstrating the wide applicability of the methods developed and disseminate these to protected area management bodies and local authorities;
- drastically reduce application costs and ineffective chemical applications (recreational areas, high trees, etc.);
- commercialise novel traps made of recycled materials/renewable resources, actively promoting circular economy and reducing both the cost and the carbon footprint of raw materials;
- minimise health problems and risks for both humans and animals due to the presence of spongy moth larvae in forests and urban and recreational areas and reduce social security expenditure;
- demonstrate the positive influence of pest control strategies on local biodiversity and beneficial fauna;
- ensure long-term sustainability through a business plan that provides income for companies involved in trap manufacturing;
- demonstrate and validate the techno-economic and environmental feasibility and transferability of the pest control model, for its application to other areas where spongy moth is a problem.
The project contributed to the implementation of EU Directive 2009/128/EC on establishing a Community action framework to achieve sustainable pesticides use, of the EU Plastics Strategy, of the Chemicals Strategy for Sustainability, of the Circular Economy Action Plan, of the Waste Framework Directive, of the EU Forest Strategy and of the European Green Deal.
RESULTS
The project has developed and tested 3 types of traps—trunk traps, pheromone traps (including Mating Disrupting technique), and e-traps—for the integrated management of the spongy month (Lymantria dispar) in forests and urban and sub-urban areas in Greece, Slovenia and Spain. The developed traps have been tested and optimised over a period of 2-3 years at the selected sites and compared with commercial traps for other types of pests. The results showed that commercial trunk and pheromone traps were more efficient in terms of captures than the project prototypes. However, the Mating Disrupting method was extremely effective as it managed to reduce the insect population in all treated areas, with costs of the treatment considerably lower than any other chemical treatment.
Additionally, 28 e-traps were deployed in the 3 project countries and served to confirm the results of other trapping devices and enabling remote and continuous monitoring in hard-to-reach locations.
The assessment of the project traps has been replicated in some other countries, such as Croatia and Hungary, and in some other areas in Slovenia and Spain. Additionally, they have been used also in treatment of other pest species, such as Phthorimaea operculella, Thaumetopoea pityocampa and Helicoverpa armigera.
During the testing periods, the project has involved relevant stakeholders in the monitoring of Lymantria dispar and has implemented a large number of knowledge transfer activities in the project areas.
Regrettably, the developed traps are not ready for commercialisation, and additional refinement is required. Therefore, the project will continue working in the After-LIFE period to complete fine-tuning of the integrated control system.
