A pheromone trap is a type of insect trap

Insect trap

Insect traps are used to monitor or directly reduce insect populations. They typically use food, visual lures, chemical attractants and pheromones as bait and are installed so that they do not injure other animals or humans or result in residues in foods or feeds. Visual lures use light, bright...

 that uses pheromone

Pheromone

A pheromone is a secreted or excreted chemical factor that triggers a social response in members of the same species. Pheromones are chemicals capable of acting outside the body of the secreting individual to impact the behavior of the receiving individual...

s to lure insects. Sex pheromones and aggregating pheromones are the most common types used. A pheromone-impregnated lure is encased in a conventional trap such as a Delta trap, water-pan trap, or funnel trap.

Sensitivity

Pheromone traps are very sensitive, meaning they attract insects present at very low densities. They are often used to detect presence of exotic pests, or for sampling, monitoring, or to determine the first appearance of a pest in an area. They can be used for legal control, and are used to monitor the success of the Boll Weevil Eradication Program

Boll Weevil Eradication Program

The Boll Weevil Eradication Program is a program sponsored by the United States Department of Agriculture that has sought to eradicate the boll weevil in the cotton-growing areas of the United States. It is one of the world's most successful implementations of integrated pest management...

 and the spread of the gypsy moth

Gypsy moth

The gypsy moth, Lymantria dispar, is a moth in the family Lymantriidae of Eurasian origin. Originally ranging from Europe to Asia, it was introduced to North America in the late 1860s and has been expanding its range ever since...

. The fact that pheromone traps are highly species-specific can also be an advantage, and they tend to be inexpensive and easy to implement.

However, it is impractical in most cases to completely remove or "trap out" pests using a pheromone trap. Some pheromone-based pest control

Pest control

Pest control refers to the regulation or management of a species defined as a pest, usually because it is perceived to be detrimental to a person's health, the ecology or the economy.-History:...

 methods have been successful, usually those designed to protect enclosed areas such as households or storage facilities. There has also been some success in mating disruption

Mating disruption

Mating disruption is a pest management technique designed to control certain insect infestations. Specifically, mating disruption involves the use of synthesized sex pheromones to disrupt the reproductive cycle of insects.- Mechanism:...

. In one form of mating disruption, males are attracted to a powder containing female attractant pheromones. The pheromones stick to the males' bodies, and when they fly off, the pheromones make them attractive to other males. It is hoped that if enough males chase other males instead of females, egg-laying will be severely impeded.

Some difficulties surrounding pheromone traps include sensitivity to bad weather, their ability to attract pests from neighboring areas, and the fact that they generally only attract adults although it is the juveniles in many species that are pests. They are also generally limited to one sex.

Targets

Though certainly not all insect pheromones have been discovered, many are known, many more are discovered every year. Some sites curate large lists of insect pheromones . Pheromones are frequently used to monitor and control lepidoptera

Lepidoptera

Lepidoptera is a large order of insects that includes moths and butterflies . It is one of the most widespread and widely recognizable insect orders in the world, encompassing moths and the three superfamilies of butterflies, skipper butterflies, and moth-butterflies...

n and coleopteran species, with many available commercially . Some insects for which pheromones are available include:

• African bollworm
• Apple clearwing moth
• Apple brown tortrix
• Apple fruit moth
• Apple maggot
  Apple maggot
  The apple maggot , also known as railroad worm, is a pest of several fruits, mainly apples. The adult form of this insect is about 5 mm long, slightly smaller than a house fly, with a white dot on its thorax and a characteristic black banding shaped like an "F" on its wings...
  
  
• Artichoke moth
• Asian beetle
• Asian corn borer moth
• Baluchistan fruit fly
• Banana weevil
• Banded elm bark beetle
• Barred fruit-tree tortrix
• Beech tortrix moth
• Beet armyworm
  Beet armyworm
  The Beet Armyworm or Small Mottled Willow Moth is one of the best-known agricultural pest insects. It is also known as the asparagus fern caterpillar, and the adult moth is known in the UK as the small mottled willow...
  
  
• Bertha armyworm
• Black cutworm
• Blueberry maggot
• Bollworm
  Bollworm
  A bollworm is a common term for any larva of a moth that attacks the fruiting bodies of certain crops, especially cotton.The most common moths known as bollworms are:* Red or Sudan Bollworm: Diaparopsis* Rough Bollworm: Earias perhuegeli...
  
  
• Bright-line brown-eyes moth
• Brown oak tortrix
• Cabbage leaf roller
• Cabbage looper moth
• Cabbage moth
  Cabbage Moth
  Note: the Small White species of butterfly is commonly called a "cabbage moth" in North America.The Cabbage Moth is a common European moth of the family Noctuidae....
  
  
• Carnation tortrix
• Carob moth
  Carob moth
  Carob moths are certain species of small snout moths . They are named for their caterpillars' habit of becoming a pest on stored fruits of Carob .The term can refer to:* Ectomyelois ceratoniae...
  
  
• Cherry fruit fly
• Cherry-bark moth
• Cirtrus leafmining moth
• Citrus cutworm
• Citrus mealybug
• Citrus flower moth
• Codling moth
  Codling moth
  The codling moth is a member of the Lepidopteran family Tortricidae. They are known as an agricultural pest, their larva being the common apple worm or maggot. It is native to Europe and was introduced to North America, where it has become one of the regular pests of apple orchards. It is found...
  
  
• Corn stalk borer
• Corn earworm
  Corn earworm
  Corn earworm may refer to:* Helicoverpa armigera* Helicoverpa zea...
  
  
• Cumcumber moth
• Currant clearwing moth
• Cutworm
  Cutworm
  Cutworms are not worms, biologically speaking, but caterpillars; they are moth larvae that hide under litter or soil during the day, coming out in the dark to feed on plants...
  
  
• Date palm fruit stalk borer
• Diamond back moth
• Douglas-fir tussock moth
• Dubas bug
• Durra stem borer
• Eastern cherry fruit fly
• Eggplant shoot and fruit borer
• Egyptian cotton leaf worm
• Engraver beetle
• European goat moth
• European corn borer
  European Corn Borer
  The European corn borer , also known as the European high-flyer, is a pest of grain, particularly maize. The insect is native to Europe, originally infesting varieties of millet, including broom corn. The European corn borer was first reported in North America in 1917 in Massachusetts, but was...
  
  
• European pine shoot moth
• European spruce bark beetle
  European spruce bark beetle
  The European spruce bark beetle , is a beetle in the family Scolytidae of European origin. Originally ranging from Europe to Asia Minor and some parts of Africa, it was introduced to areas such as Norway Spruce forests via imported solid wood packing material, and has been expanding its range...
  
  
• Eye-spotted bud moth
• False codling moth
  False Codling Moth
  Thaumatotibia leucotreta commonly known as the False Codling Moth is a moth in the Tortricidae family under the order of Lepidoptera. Larvae of the moth feed on a wide range of crops from cotton and macadamia nuts to citrus...
  
  
• Fruit fly
  Drosophila melanogaster
  Drosophila melanogaster is a species of Diptera, or the order of flies, in the family Drosophilidae. The species is known generally as the common fruit fly or vinegar fly. Starting from Charles W...
  
  
• Fruit tree leaf roller
• Garden pebble
• Golden leaf roller
• Golden twin moth or groundnut semi-looper moth
• Grape moth or vine moth
• Green oak moth
• Grey tortrix
• Gypsy moth
  Gypsy moth
  The gypsy moth, Lymantria dispar, is a moth in the family Lymantriidae of Eurasian origin. Originally ranging from Europe to Asia, it was introduced to North America in the late 1860s and has been expanding its range ever since...
  
  
• Hants moths
• Jasmine moth
• Large fruit tree tortrix
• Leche’s twist moth
• Leek moth or onion moth
• Legume pod borer
• Leopard moth
  Zeuzera pyrina
  The Leopard Moth or Wood Leopard Moth is a moth of the family Cossidae. It is found primarily in Europe. It was introduced into the northeastern United States prior to 1879 and has a range extending from Maine to Pennsylvania....
  
  
• Lesser peach tree borer
• Longhorn date stem borer
• Marbled orchard tortrix
• Mediterranean fruit fly
• Mediterranean pine engraver beetle
• Melon fly or cucumber fruit fly
• Northern bark beetle
• Nun moth
• Olive fruit fly
  Olive fruit fly
  The olive fruit fly is a species of fruit fly which belongs to the Dacinae subfamily MUNRO, 1984. It is a kind of phytophagous species, whose larvae feed on the fruit of olive trees, hence the common name...
  
  
• Olive moth
• Orange tortrix
• Oriental fruit fly
• Oriental fruit moth
• Pea moth
• Peach fruit fly
• Pear twig borers
• Pear leaf blister moth
• Pine processionary moth
• Pine sawfly
• Pink bollworm
  Pink bollworm
  The pink bollworm , , is an insect known for being a pest in cotton farming. The adult is a small, thin, gray moth with fringed wings. The larva is a dull white, eight-legged caterpillar with conspicuous pink banding along its dorsum...
  
  
• Plum fruit moth
• Plum moth
• Potato moth
• Potato tuber moth
• Queensland fruit fly
• Quince moth
• Red palm weevil
• Rhinoceros beetle
  Rhinoceros beetle
  The Rhinoceros Beetles or Rhino Beetles are a subfamily of the scarab beetle family . Other common names – some for particular groups of rhino beetles – are for example Hercules beetles, unicorn beetles or horn beetles...
  
  
• Rice stem borer
• Rose tortrix
• San Jose scale
  San Jose scale
  San Jose scale is a hemipterous insect in the family Diaspididae. It is an agricultural pest as it causes damage and crop losses to many fruit crops.-Distribution:...
  
  
• Siver Y moth
• Six-spined spruce bark beetle
• Six-toothed bark beetle
• Spiny boll worm
• Spotted bollworm
• Spotted tentiform miner
• Straw coloured tortrix moth
• Sugar beet weevil
• Summer fruit tortrix moth
• Tomato leaf miner
• Tomato looper
• Tomato moth or bright-line brown-eye moth
• Turnip moth
  Turnip Moth
  The Turnip Moth is a moth of the family Noctuidae. It is a common European species, but it is also found in Asia and Africa, very likely having been spread by the international trade in nursery stock...
  
  
• Variegated golden tortrix
• Winter moth
  Winter Moth
  The Winter Moth is a moth of the family Geometridae. It is an abundant species of Europe and the Near East and one of very few Lepidoptera of temperate regions in which the adults are active in the depth of winter....
  
  
• Xyloterus bark beetle