Skip to main content
ARS Home » Midwest Area » Wooster, Ohio » Application Technology Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #98866
Title: ATTRACTION OF PHYLLOPHAGA CONGRUA, P. CRASSSISSIMA, P. CRINITA, AND CYCLOCEPHALA LURIDA (COLEOPTERA: SCARABAEIDAE) ADULTS TO SELECTED VOLATILE COMPOUNDS

Author
item CROCKER, R - TEXAS A & M
item Klein, Michael
item WEI, X - TEXAS A & M
item JAILON JR, W - TEXAS A & M

Submitted to: Southwestern Entomologist
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 3/18/1999
Publication Date: N/A
Citation: N/A

Interpretive Summary: Both the adults and larvae of many scarab beetles have been serious pests of turf, vegetables and field crops throughout the southwestern United States. Trapping systems have long been used world wide to locate scarab infestations, follow changes in the beetles distribution and to help suppress beetle populations. There is a continuing interest in obtaining a more complete understanding of the effects of various lures on the captures of scarab beetle adults. In this study, we identified new lures for two species of foliage feeding May beetles (Phyllophaga crassissima and P. congrua) from central Texas. Two other scarabs (the May beetle P. crinita and the masked chafer Cyclocephala lurida) which do not feed as adults, were not attracted to any of the 12 compounds. The information obtained here will give scientists, and regulatory officials new tools to study the distribution and life cycles of additional scarab pests and could provide the basis for an environmentally friendly suppression agent in the near future.

Technical Abstract: Plant volatiles are known to be attractants for adults of phytophagous scarabs; however, no information is available for Phyllophaga spp. in the southern United States, or for the masked chafer, Cyclocephala lurida Bland. In 1996 and 1997 we used 12 volatile compounds to lure beetles to standard Japanese beetle traps in Dallas, TX. Phyllophaga crassissima (Blanchard) preferred anethole over any other lure, with second preference being for either geraniol or eugenol. The 1:1:1 mixture of phenyl propionate: eugenol: geraniol (PEG), the 1:1 mixture of eugenol: geraniol (EG) and the phenyl propionate by itself were preferred over the unbaited control. Phyllophaga congrua (LeConte) responded strongest to phenyl propionate, the EG mixture and linalool. Butyl sorbate apparently was repellant to P. congrua. Neither P. crinita Burmeister nor C. lurida responded significantly to any of the lures. Although the relative attractiveness of the various chemicals was the same for males and females of any given species, significantly more males were collected for the Phyllophaga spp. These results indicate that different species of phytophagous scarabs respond very differently to potential lures. Responsiveness to these lures (most of which are found in plants) was directly correlated to whether the adult beetles feed or not.