Confusion method

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Name (also confusion method or mating disruption) for the biotechnology first developed in the 1940s for the environmentally friendly control of vine pests as part of plant protection. The method quickly became established and has also been practised on a large scale in viticulture since the 1980s. Species-specific pheromones (sexual odorants) that are only effective for certain insects are produced synthetically and applied to the vineyard. In nature, the males are attracted by the female's scent. Although they still emit this substance, it is drowned out in the widely sprayed cloud.

Prevention of reproduction

As a result, the male insects are confused ("can't see the forest because there are so many trees"), cannot follow a single trail and mating with the females is prevented ("no sex for butterflies"). Although the uninseminated, sterile eggs are laid, they do not produce any larvae. Before spraying over a wide area, pheromone traps (dispensers with a strip of glue) are used to determine the flight time and strength and thus the ideal time for control. Depending on the number of males caught, the extrapolated scope is determined.

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Confusion method

Prevention of reproduction

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