Skip to main content
ARS Home » Midwest Area » Peoria, Illinois » National Center for Agricultural Utilization Research » Crop Bioprotection Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #60997
Title: TRAP DESIGN EFFECT ON THE CAPTURE OF CARPOPHILUS SPP. (COLEOPTERA: NITIDULIDAE) USING SYNTHETIC AGGREGATION PHEROMONES AND A COATTRACTANT

Author
item JAMES, DAVID - YANCO AG INST,NSW AUSTRAL
item Bartelt, Robert
item MOORE, CHROSTOPHER - ANIM RES INS,QUEENSL,AUST

Submitted to: Journal of Economic Entomology
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 12/5/1995
Publication Date: N/A
Citation: N/A

Interpretive Summary: Sap beetles (family Nitidulidae) of the genus, Carpophilus, are serious pests of ripening stone fruits (especially apricots, nectarines, and peaches) in southern Australia. The Australian stone fruit industry is attempting to switch away from insecticides to alternative, environmentally safer means of pest management, such as the use of pheromones. (Pheromones are natural chemicals that insects emit to attract others of their own species). Pheromones are now known and have been synthesized for the three most important sap beetle species in Australian stone fruits, and research is being initiated to learn whether it is possible to control these pests by mass trapping using pheromones. One important issue is trap design; traps must be as efficient as possible for the mass trapping approach to succeed. The present study compared a variety of commercial and experimental traps and identified several commercial traps that had optimal performance.

Technical Abstract: In a series of experiments conducted in stone fruit orchards in southern Australia, water-based funnel-type traps (upturned McPhail trap, Lucitrap (TM), Magnet (TM) Funnel trap) baited with synthetic aggregation pheromone and fermenting bread dough, trapped 3-7 times as many Carpophilus beetles (primarily C. davidsoni) than wind-oriented pipe traps or dry funnel traps. The efficacy of dry funnel traps, but not pipe traps, was improved by using water-filled collecting bottles. The potential for using Lucitraps (TM) and Magnet (TM) traps in population suppression of Carpophilus spp. in stone fruit orchards through mass-trapping is discussed.