The use of kairomone lures for the detection of Sirex noctilio in susceptible Pinus radiata plantations in Australia

Exotic woodwasps can cause high levels of mortality in Pinus species plantations. One species, Sirex noctilio (Sirex), was first detected in Tasmania in 1952 and has subsequently spread into softwood plantations throughout southeastern Australia. Plantations aged 7 years or older are susceptible to Sirex attack. For several decades the method of detecting developing populations of Sirex has been through aerial and ground surveillance and the establishment of trap tree plots. Trap tree plots are sets of ten trees treated with a measured dose of herbicide sufficient to stress the tree and so render it attractive to Sirex. In Australia hundreds of trap tree plots are prepared each year in Sirex-infested plantations and in plantations entering the susceptible age bracket. Approximately half of all prepared plots are attacked by Sirex. The development of a novel method to detect Sirex in young plantations using static traps baited with pinene lures began in 2003 in Tasmania. The use of these traps for the Sirex detection is now a routine operation in Tasmania.