Daily treatments with the vapor generator in wine cellars would effectively 

 control drosophila, but adjustments in operating time would have to be made 

 periodically. 



BACKGROUND 



Drosophila spp. , or vinegar flies, are the most serious pests infesting wineries; 

 the dried-fruit beetle, Carpophilus hemipterus (Linnaeus) is probably the second most 

 common insect. 



Tests conducted in wineries since 1961 using dichlorvos in thermal aerosol 

 treatments have shown that this compound is quite effective in controlling 

 drosophila. Z/ Laboratory tests conducted by Jay and others 4/ showed that con- 

 centrations of 0.28 /ug/cu. ft, (0.01 /ig/liter) produced a 95-percent mortality of 

 adult drosophila in 185. 6 minutes. • 



The heaviest drosophila infestations coincide with the peak of the grape 

 crushing season. All winery personnel are extremely busy during this 2-month 

 period. A semiautomatic insect- control system should, therefore, be of consider- 

 able interest to operators of a winery. This paper describes tests of a semiautomatic 

 generator to dispense dichlorvos vapor for insect control. 



The vapor dispenser first used in wineries in 1964 (table 1) for three 

 preliminary tests v/as designed to test the general suitability of the vapor generator 

 to wine cellar operations. Five additional tests (table 2) were made in 1965, to test 

 the effectiveness of short daily periods of vapor generation for continuing insect 

 control in wineries. In 1966, the machine was operated during about 3 months to 

 determine the effectiveness of the vapor generator under actual conditions for an 

 entire grape crushing season (tables 3 and 4). 



^/ Yerington, Albert P. Control of Drosophila in Wineries with Dichlorvos 

 Aerosols. Jour. Econ. Entomol. 60(3): 701-704. 1967. 



4/ Jay, Edward G. , Phillip K. Harein, and Hagen B. Gillenwater. The 

 Toxicity of Dichlorvos in Air to Adult Drosophila melanogaster . Jour. Econ. 

 Entomol. 57(3): 413. 1964. 



