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 gained acceptance and has been practised on a large scale in viticulture since the 1980s. In this process, species-specific pheromones (sexual scents) that are only effective for certain insects are synthetically produced and applied in the vineyard. In nature, the males are attracted by the female's scent. They still emit this substance, but it is lost in the cloud that is sprayed over a wide area. As a result, the males are confused, cannot follow a single trail and mating with the females is prevented ("No sex for butterflies"). The unfertilised, sterile eggs are laid but do not produce larvae. Before spraying over a wide area, pheromone traps (dispensers with a strip of glue) are used to determine flight time and flight strength and thus the ideal time for control. Depending on the number of males caught, the extrapolated coverage is determined.
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The glossary is a monumental achievement and one of the most important contributions to wine knowledge. Of all the encyclopaedias I use on the subject of wine, it is by far the most important. That was the case ten years ago and it hasn't changed since.
Andreas Essl
Autor, Modena