THE INTERFRUTA PROJECT AND ITS CONTRIBUTION TO THE KNOWLEDGE OF CHESTNUT MOTH (CYDIA SPLENDANA HUBNER) (LEPIDOPTERA: TORTRICIDAE) DISPERSAL AND INFESTATION ON TERCEIRA ISLAND, AZORES

The chestnut moth is one of the principal pests on Terceira Island affecting the quality of all chestnut production. Investigation work developed by the Interfruta II Project (a project of interregional cooperation among the three Atlantic regions: Azores, Madeira and Canaries) aims at increasing interest in fruit and the vineyard production in the three partner regions. The chestnut moth (Cydia splendana Hubner) (Lepidoptera: Tortricidae) is the only specie responsible for chestnut fruit damage. The monitoring of this pest using Delta traps with sex pheromone revealed the adult abundance during the season. The higher activity period was between July and October, the months when the chestnut harvest begins. A map of Terceira Island using a GPS and ArcGis 8.0 software was made showing the locality of all the chestnut production areas studied. In the evaluated orchards, fruit damage reached its maximum of 38% at Terra Chã, 218 m of altitude and a southern exposure, and a minimum of 0% damage at Biscoitos, at about the same altitude but with a northern exposure. In both cases, the percentages of infestation were achieved by analyzing a sample of 2.500 chestnuts for each parcel of land.