The species Operophtera brumata, due to its extreme polyphagy, is a potential pest of major importance for many fruit-growing areas in Europe and in Romania. In the western part of Romania, this species of geometrids is more abundant than any other defoliator, and its larvae are extremely harmful, significant damage being produced in the orchards of fruit trees and shrubs, but also in deciduous forests. The most recent infestation with larvae of this pest was reported in 2022, on the southern side of a private blueberry orchard in the Bocșa area, where the blueberry bushes were defoliated only in limited areas. In the autumn of the same year, the adults were also collected with the help of pheromone traps. The following year, 2023, the infestation was more widespread, 10% of the orchard area was infested and chemical treatments had to be applied. The paper aim was to analyse the structure and dynamics of the pest population in order to understand the regularity of its reappearance and the rapid growth of the population. The aim of this paper was to evaluate the biological activity of Operopthera brumata species in Bocșa area under 2023 climatic conditions. A significant correlation between temperature and the period of effective dispersal of adults was found, as the daily dynamics of adult populations of Operophtera brumata increased with increasing temperature from the time the first adult emerged until their density decreased to a level where they no longer caused damage.

winter moth, Lepidoptera, Geometridae, blueberry, orchards

agronomy

Presentation: poster