1 Redbay ambrosia beetle Xyleborus glabratus is an invasive wood boring beetle that has become established in the southeastern U.S.A. and transmits a fungus Raffaelea lauricola that causes lethal laurel wilt. Among susceptible Lauraceae hosts are redbay Persea borbonia and avocado Persea americana. 2 There is a crucial need for detection of this pest as it moves into new areas.Consequently, our goal was to create a better lure for the monitoring and control of redbay ambrosia beetle. 3 We analyzed volatile emissions of R. lauricola, created a synthetic odour blend based on this analysis and tested this odour blend as a potential attractant in a redbay forest infested with X. glabratus. The synthetic Raffaelea odour blend was not attractive to the beetles by itself. However, it synergistically increased attraction to host-mimic volatiles. 4 We tested four commercial release devices for dispensing Raffaelea odour at various release rates. Two prototypes with the highest release rate, when paired with commercial manuka oil lures, captured more beetles than manuka oil lures alone.These results indicate that a synthetic blend of volatiles based on the odour of the symbiotic fungus of X. glabratus may be useful for the development of more sensitive monitoring lures for this invasive pathogen vector.
The redbay ambrosia beetle, Xyleborus glabratus, is an invasive wood-boring beetle that has become established in the southeastern United States. The beetle transmits the causal pathogen of lethal laurel wilt to susceptible host trees, which include redbay, an important forest community species, and avocado, a valuable food crop. By examining odors of redbay wood, we developed an artificial lure that captured X. glabratus in redbay forests. Eucalyptol was a critical component of the blend for beetle attraction, and eucalyptol alone in large quantities attracted X. glabratus. Furthermore, eucalyptol stimulated boring by X. glabratus into paper arenas. The results suggest that eucalyptol contributes to host selection behavior of X. glabratus and may be useful for management of this pathogen vector.
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