Harvest SA 85
A Biological Approach to Tortricid Management and Pollination in Macadamias
Combining targeted pest control with pollination support can help macadamia growers protect developing nuts and manage their orchards more effectively.
Successful macadamia production depends on several factors, including effective pest management and pollination. Tortricid pests, particularly Macadamia Nut Borer (MNB), Thaumatotibia batrachopa; False Codling Moth (FCM), Thaumatotibia leucotreta; and Litchi Moth (LM), Cryptophlebia peltastica, present a significant challenge. Their larvae can penetrate developing nuts, resulting in direct kernel damage, premature nut drop, and potential crop losses.
Managing these pests requires interven-tions that target vulnerable stages of their life cycle, supported by monitoring and appro-priate application timing. At the same time, maintaining beneficial insects and supporting honeybee activity during flowering remain important considerations.
River Bioscience offers a range of biological solutions that can be incorporated into an integrated pest management (IPM) pro-gramme, addressing both tortricid pests and pollination.
Targeting tortricid pests with MultiMax® & Trichogramma
Managing these pests requires interven-tions that target vulnerable stages of their life cycle, supported by monitoring and appro-priate application timing.
MultiMax® is a patented, virus-based biopesti-cide containing Cryptophlebia peltastica nucleopolyhedrovirus (CrpeNPV). It targets the larval stages of MNB, FCM, and LM. Susceptible larvae ingest virus particles on treated plant surfaces. The virus then infects the midgut cells, replicates, and spreads through the larva, ultimately causing mor-tality. Commercial field registration trials demonstrated 92.2% control of MNB and 88.9% control of FCM.
Complementing larval control, Trichogram-matoidea cryptophlebiae (Trichogramma) parasitoids target tortricid eggs. Female para-sitoids lay their eggs inside moth eggs, where developing parasitoids consume the host eggs and prevent pest larvae from emer-ging. River Bioscience's Trichogramma programme has recorded 80–100% overall parasitism under specified release programmes.
Together, these biological tools target different pest life stages, helping growers manage tortricid pressure. Trap monitoring, orchard scouting and nut-damage assess-ments remain essential for determining pest pressure and intervention timing.
Supporting pollination during flowering
While pest management helps protect the developing crop, pollination is another important component of macadamia pro-duction. Honeybees play a critical role during flowering, making their activity an important consideration in orchard management.
Apis Bloom® is a pheromone-based pollin-ation enhancer formulated to mimic the communication signals honeybees use to identify valuable nectar and pollen sources. Applied in small, distributed dollops within the crop, it is designed to encourage increased honeybee foraging activity and improve the distribution of pollination services.
Apis Bloom® is a pheromone-based pollin-ation enhancer formulated to mimic the communication signals honeybees use to identify valuable nectar and pollen sources.
River Bioscience trial data have demon-strated increased bee activity, pollen collection, and nut set in treated orchards. Application timing is important. According to the product label, Apis Bloom® should be applied once flowering has begun, when approximately 5% of the crop's petals have opened.
Bringing the components together
For macadamia growers, combining effective pest management with pollination support can help protect crop potential. By monit-oring pest pressure and using the right biological tools at the right time, growers can target tortricid pests at different life stages while encouraging honeybee activity during flowering. MultiMax®, Trichogramma and Apis Bloom® offer complementary options to incorporate into an integrated orchard management programme, supporting a more targeted approach to crop protection and pollination.
Through its biological portfolio, River Bios-cience continues to contribute to the development of targeted crop management solutions that help growers manage pest pressure while supporting the beneficial organisms and pollination services that underpin productive macadamia orchards.
River Bioscience – Leaders in Sustainable Agriculture.