ATTRACTION OF MALE GREEN APPLE BUGS, LYGOCORIS COMMUNIS (HEMIPTERA: MIRIDAE), TO CAGED FEMALES

1982 ◽  
Vol 114 (8) ◽  
pp. 765-766 ◽  
Author(s):  
G. Boivin ◽  
R. K. Stewart

In Quebec apple orchards, pheromones are used to monitor a number of pest species (Rivard et al. 1978; Paradis et al. 1979). However, few studies have looked for the presence of sex pheromones in mirids. Scales (1968) detected the presence of sex pheromone in a mirid, Lygus lineolaris (P. de B.), as did Strong et al. (1970) for Lygus hesperus Knight. Subsequently, the daily and annual cycles of pheromone emission in Distantiella theobroma (Dist.) (King 1973) and Helopeltis clavifer (Walker) (Smith 1977) were established.

2015 ◽  
Vol 282 (1812) ◽  
pp. 20150832 ◽  
Author(s):  
Johanna Chemnitz ◽  
Petra C. Jentschke ◽  
Manfred Ayasse ◽  
Sandra Steiger

Long-range sex pheromones have been subjected to substantial research with a particular focus on their biosynthesis, peripheral perception, central processing and the resulting orientation behaviour of perceivers. Fundamental to the research on sex attractants was the assumption that they primarily coordinate species recognition. However, especially when they are produced by the less limiting sex (usually males), the evolution of heightened condition dependence might be expected and long-range sex pheromones might, therefore, also inform about a signaller's quality. Here we provide, to our knowledge, the first comprehensive study of the role of a male's long-range pheromone in mate choice that combines chemical analyses, video observations and field experiments with a multifactorial manipulation of males' condition. We show that the emission of the long-distance sex pheromone of the burying beetle, Nicrophorus vespilloides is highly condition-dependent and reliably reflects nutritional state, age, body size and parasite load—key components of an individual's somatic state. Both, the quantity and ratio of the pheromone components were affected but the time invested in pheromone emission was largely unaffected by a male's condition. Moreover, the variation in pheromone emission caused by the variation in condition had a strong effect on the attractiveness of males in the field, with males in better nutritional condition, of older age, larger body size and bearing less parasites being more attractive. That a single pheromone is influenced by so many aspects of the somatic state and causes such variation in a male's attractiveness under field conditions was hitherto unknown and highlights the need to integrate indicator models of sexual selection into pheromone research.


2017 ◽  
Vol 149 (5) ◽  
pp. 662-676 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gary J.R. Judd ◽  
Alan. L. Knight ◽  
Ashraf M. El-Sayed

AbstractSpilonota ocellana (Denis and Schiffermüller) (Lepidoptera: Tortricidae) can be a serious pest of organic apples (Malus domestica Borkhausen (Rosaceae)) in British Columbia, Canada. Recent discovery that S. ocellana moths are attracted by a lure combining acetic acid (AA) and benzyl nitrile (BN), identified as a caterpillar-induced apple leaf volatile, provides an opportunity to develop bisexual mass-trapping or monitoring systems. Sticky white delta traps baited with benzyl nitrile (10 mg/red rubber septum) and an acetic-acid co-lure (3 mL AA/3-mm open 8-mL vial) caught significantly more moths than either component alone. Acetic-acid co-lures were weakly attractive but benzyl-nitrile-loaded septa were not attractive. Moth catches with AA+BN lures were unaffected by the size and type of rubber septum used to release benzyl nitrile, but catches increased with increasing loads of benzyl nitrile. Male and total moth catches were maximised using membrane release devices loaded with a mixture of benzyl nitrile and a second caterpillar-induced volatile, 2-phenylethanol (PET), in combination with an acetic-acid co-lure (AA+BN-PET). Female catches with AA+BN-PET and AA+BN lures were equivalent. Placing AA+BN lures in traps baited with female sex pheromone lures reduced male catches, but female catches were unchanged. When sticky liners were replaced weekly, white delta traps baited with AA+BN lures caught more moths than similarly baited white Multipher®-I bucket traps, or transparent UnitrapsTM. Multipher-I traps with a propylene glycol killing agent (250 mL) caught more moths than those with Vapona insecticide strips. In apple orchards treated with mating disruption sex pheromones, traps baited with AA+BN caught slightly more total moths than traps baited with sex pheromone. Weekly, total male+female moth catches with either AA+BN or sex pheromone lures showed similar seasonal patterns in both untreated and pheromone-disrupted orchards, respectively. Long-lasting release devices and an organic killing agent are needed to develop certified organic mass-trapping technologies for management of S. ocellana with the AA+BN kairomone.


2003 ◽  
Vol 135 (5) ◽  
pp. 733-735 ◽  
Author(s):  
A.R. Wardle ◽  
J.H. Borden

Lygus bugs (Hemiptera: Miridae), particularly the tarnished plant bug, Lygus lineolaris (Palisot de Beauvois), and Lygus hesperus Knight, are serious pests in North America (Hedlund and Graham 1987). Sex pheromones have been identified in some mirids (Smith et al. 1991; Millar et al. 1997; Millar and Rice 1998) but not in Lygus spp. (Ho and Millar 2002), despite evidence that lygus bug females produce sex pheromones (Scales 1968; Strong et al. 1970; Graham 1987; McLaughlin 1996; Scott and Snodgrass 2000). Graham (1987) found that L. lineolaris and Lygus elisus Van Duzee males were attracted to females of their own and the other species but not to L. hesperus females, whereas L. hesperus males were attracted only to conspecific females. In southwestern British Columbia, Lygus shulli Knight is a major pest in such diverse sites as conifer nurseries and greenhouses (Gillespie et al. 2000). Our objective was to determine whether sexual attraction occurs in L. shulli and whether L. shulli is cross-attracted to females of two other Lygus spp.


2000 ◽  
Vol 90 (2) ◽  
pp. 147-154 ◽  
Author(s):  
G.N. Mbata ◽  
S. Shu ◽  
S.B. Ramaswamy

Females of Callosobruchus spp. are known to produce sex pheromones that attract males. These sex pheromones cannot be adopted for use in pest management without first investigating the responses of the males in the windless conditions of storage environments. Consequently, behavioural bioassays of Callosobruchus subinnotatus Pic males were conducted in an olfactometer in the absence of air-flow. Under these conditions males were found to be able to follow odour trails to the source. However, the latency period was longer in diffusional bioassays than for insects in a Y-tube olfactometer that provided directional wind cues. The highest percentage of males reached the pheromone source when components of the pheromones, (E)-3-methyl-2-heptenoic acid (E32A) and (Z)-3-methyl-2-heptenoic acid (Z32A), were formulated in a 50:50 or 25:75 ratio. Males of C. maculatus (Fabricius) responded to sex pheromone of C. subinnotatus, but males of C. subinnotatus did not respond to that of C. maculatus. The two sex pheromone components of C. subinnotatus are also constituents of C. maculatus sex pheromone. These two components may be potentially useful in monitoring the populations of both species in stored beans. It is postulated that (Z)-3-methyl-3-heptenoic acid (Z33A), the major component of the sex pheromone of C. maculatus, must have acted as an antagonist inhibiting response of C. subinnotatus to the sex pheromone of C. maculatus.


1986 ◽  
Vol 118 (11) ◽  
pp. 1131-1142 ◽  
Author(s):  
N.J. Bostanian ◽  
L.J. Coulombe

AbstractAn IPM program was developed to control Venturia inaequalis (Cke.) Wint., Lygus lineolaris (Palisot de Beaiivois), Conotrachelus nenuphar (Herbst), and Rhagoletis pomonella (Walsh), the annual key pests of apple orchards in southwestern Quebec. The program was found to control other pests, such as Orthosia hibisci (Guenée). Phytophagous tetranychids were controlled with the introduction of an organophosphate-resistant strain of Amblyseius fallacis Garman, Key pests were monitored carefully and pesticide applications were timed to correspond to their presence in the orchard. After an extremely severe winter and late spring frosts, the IPM program failed to provide commercially acceptable pest control. A measure to correct this problem is suggested in the text. This program reduced the cost of pesticide treatments by 34% when compared with pest control practices currently used by commercial growers in Quebec.


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