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ARS Home » Pacific West Area » Hilo, Hawaii » Daniel K. Inouye U.S. Pacific Basin Agricultural Research Center » Tropical Crop and Commodity Protection Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #406103
Research Project: Postharvest Protection of Tropical Commodities for Improved Market Access and Quarantine Security

Location: Tropical Crop and Commodity Protection Research

Title: A predator breeding station for augmentative biological control of scolytine crop pests

Author
item Follett, Peter
item CZOKAJLO, M - Alpha Scents, Inc
item COLLIGNON, MAX - Oak Ridge Institute For Science And Education (ORISE)
item Cha, Dong

Submitted to: Biological Control
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 8/7/2023
Publication Date: 8/9/2023
Citation: Follett, P.A., Czokajlo, M., Collignon, M., Cha, D.H. 2023. A predator breeding station for augmentative biological control of scolytine crop pests. Biological Control. 186. Article 105318. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biocontrol.2023.105318.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biocontrol.2023.105318

Interpretive Summary: Cathartus quadricollis is a stored product pest and a predator of scolytine crop pests. In Hawaii, it attacks coffee berry borer in coffee and tropical nut borer in macadamia nut. A breeding station was designed to multiply the predator in the field. The breeding station uses an aggregation pheromone to attract the predator to food (corn) in a container where it multiplies and then disperses back into the crop. In laboratory studies, a founding population of 100 C. quadricollis produced more than 10,000 offspring in 4-5 months. This breeding station has potential for augmentation biological control of scolytine pests.

Technical Abstract: The square-necked grain beetle, Cathartus quadricollis (Coleoptera: Silvanidae), is a predator of two significant crop pests in Hawaii: the coffee berry borer, Hypothenemus hampei, in coffee and the tropical nut borer, H. obscurus (Coleoptera: Curculionidae: Scolytinae) in macadamia nut. C. quadricollis is also a stored product pest and is known to respond to its aggregation pheromone (i.e., quadrilure). Field tests were conducted in a macadamia nut orchard using sticky traps to identify the best lure dispenser and trap color based on captures of adult C. quadricollis. When quadrilure was released in different dispenser types, in combination with a fungal volatile blend released from a pouch, we found that a membrane-type quadrilure release dispenser (wafer) was superior to a red septa, gray septa, or open vial dispenser in attracting C. quadricollis. In subsequent tests, the combination of a quadrilure lure and a lure releasing a blend of fungal volatiles caught more C. quadricollis than the quadrilure lure alone. Also, we found that black sticky traps caught more C. quadricollis than did blue, green, red, yellow, white, or clear sticky traps. A predator breeding station consisting of a screened and sheltered enclosure containing food (250 g of cracked corn: cornmeal [4:1, w:w] mix) and the membrane-type quadrilure lure was developed to augment predator numbers in coffee and macadamia fields. In the laboratory, stocking a breeding station with 100 C. quadricollis resulted in production and dispersal of about 10,000 adults per station over a four-month period at 25oC. In field tests, use of the quadrilure lure plus a fungal volatiles lure or the quadrilure lure alone were placed in breeding stations in a coffee field to attract naturally occurring wild adults for a five-week period, then returned to the laboratory where they both produced roughly 3,000 adults per station over a five-month period. The predator breeding station was an efficient way to multiply C. quadricollis numbers in the field that can be used to augment biological control of the coffee berry borer in coffee and tropical nut borer in macadamia nut.