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Traps baited with synthetic aggregation pheromones of Curpophilus heinipterus (L.), C. mu/ilutus Erichson and C. duvidsoni Dobson and fermenting bread dough were used to identify the fauna and monitor seasonal abundance of nitidulids in orchards in four

Traps baited with synthetic aggregation pheromone and fermenting bread dough were used to monitor seasonal incidence and abundance of the ripening fruit pests, Carpophilus hemipterus (L.), C. mutilatus Erichson and C. duvidsoni Dobson in stone fruit orchards in the

Data are presented on the attraction of nitidulid beetles (primarily Carpophilus spp.) to synthetic aggregation pheromone, pheromone plus fermenting bread dough or dough alone, in an apricot orchard in southern New South Wales during November-March. The combination of pheromone and bread dough was significantly more effective than either type of bait alone. Synthetic pheromone of Carpophilus hemipterus (L.) increased attraction of this species to dough by 115 times. Low order (1.7-3.2 times increase) cross-attraction of Carpophilus mutilatus Erichson, Carpophilus davidsoni Dobson and Carpophilus (Urophorus) humeralis (F.) also occurred to the combination. Synthetic pheromone of C. mutilatus increased the attraction of this species to dough by up to 17 times and appeared to be most effective early in the season. C. davidsoni and C. humeralis also responded to this pheromone (1.6-5.6 times increase). All species showed some cross-attraction to synthetic pheromones of three North American Carpophilus spp. The potential for using synthetic pheromones in the management of nitidulid beetles in stone fruit orchards is discussed.

Synthetic aggregation pheromones ofCarpophilus hemipterus (L.) andCarpophilus mutilatus Erichson were field tested during a 10-month period in southern New South Wales stone fruit orchards to determineCarpophilus spp. phenology and the effect of two pheromone doses on attraction. Aggregation pheromones synergize the attraction of host volatiles toCarpophilus spp. Four major species,C. hemipterus, C. mutilatus, C. davidsoni Dobson andC. (Urophorus) humeralis (F.), were trapped, with greater numbers of each species inC. hemipterus pheromone/fermenting whole-wheat breaddough-baited traps, than in dough-only-traps. InC. mutilatus pheromone/ fermenting-dough-baited traps, onlyC. mutilatus andC. davidsoni responded in greater numbers than to dough-only traps. Beetles first appeared in traps in late September (early spring) when daily maximum temperatures averaged 17.5‡C. Trappings reached a peak during October and declined to very low levels in November-December (late spring-early summer). Numbers trapped of all species increased during February-March (late summer-early autumn), presumably due to the presence of abundant host resources (ripening and fallen fruit), and continued at high levels until May (late autumn). An 18-week study demonstrated significantly greater responses byCarpophilus spp. to 5000-Μg than to 500-Μg doses of C.hemipterus andC. mutilatus pheromones. Greatest responses to 5000Μg were recorded forC. hemipterus andC. mutilatus responding to their own pheromones (increased attraction over dough alone of 259x and 21.2x respectively). Implications of the study and the potential for using synthetic aggregation pheromones for managingCarpophilus spp. populations in Australian stone fruit are discussed.