Abstract: The effects of synthetic sex pheromone lures in controlling the diamondback moth, Plutella xylostella (L.) (DBM) were assayed at high altitudes(about 1 800 m) in Hubei in 2002. The results showed that there were two peaks in first crop of cabbage, with moth catches being 11.7±2.4, and 9.2±1.0 per trap, respectively; in second crop of cabbage there were three peaks, with the moth catches being 70.9±8.0, 16.1±2.5, and 11.1±1.9 per trap, respectively. In the second crop, the correlation between moth density and moth catches per trap was significant, y=0.0116x+0.1614 (r=0.9213, P=0.0011). Use of synthetic sex pheromone lures could decrease the number of DBM moths and reduce insecticide applications.

Key words: Plutella xylostella, cabbage, synthetic sex pheromone lure, mass trapping, control efficacy