Attraction of Astylus variegatus (Germ.) (Coleoptera: Melyridae) by volatile floral attractants

Abstract

The beetle Astylus variegatus (Germ.) (Coleoptera: Melyridae) is frequently found in flowers feeding on pollen. Responses of A. variegatus to volatile floral attractants were studied in common beans (Phaseolus vulgaris L.) fields. Traps originally designed to capture Diabrotica speciosa (Germ.) (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae), consisted of plastic bottles (2 L) with 150 holes (5-mm diameter) yellow gold painted and containing inside a plastic strip (3.5 × 25 cm) with Lagenaria vulgaris (L.) powder (0.28% B cucurbitacin -feeding stimulant and arrestant for diabroticites) sprayed with carbaril insecticide. Treatments consisted of 1,4-dimethoxybenzene (one or two dispensers per trap), 1,4-dimethoxybenze + indole, 1,4-dimethoxybenzene + cinnameldehyde and control. Volatile average release rates (over ten days) was approximately 32 mg day -1 per dispenser under laboratory conditions. 1,4-dimethoxybenzene-lured traps caught significantly more beetles than the control, three and seven days after trap setting. Ten days after the onset of the experiment, there were no differences in number of beetles caught by treatments. Captures were higher in the 1,4-dimethoxybenzene + cinnamaldehyde treatment than in 1,4-dimethoxybenzene only in the first assessment. Adding indole to 1,4-dimethoxybenzene did not improve beetle captures. Key words: Diabrotica speciosa, semiochemical, trap ATRAÇÃO DE Astylus variegatus (GERM.) (COLEOPTERA: MELYRIDAE) POR ATRAENTES FLORAIS VOLÁTEISRESUMO: O besouro Astylus variegatus (Germ.) (Coleoptera: Melyridae) é freqüentemente encontrado em flores onde se alimenta de pólen. Respostas de A. variegatus a atraentes voláteis florais foram estudadas em campos de feijão, Phaseolus vulgaris L. Armadilhas, originalmente desenvolvidas para capturar Diabrotica speciosa (Germ.) (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae), consistiram de garrafas plástica (2 L) com 150 perfurações (5 mm de diâmetro) pintadas com tinta amarelo ouro contendo no seu interior uma fita plástica (3,5 × 25,0 cm) com pó seco de frutos de Lagenaria vulgaris (L.) (0,28% de cucurbitacina B -estimulante alimentar e arrestante para diabroticíneos) pulverizados com inseticida carbaril. Os tratamentos foram: 1,4-dimetoxibenzeno (um ou dois liberadores por armadilha); 1,4-dimetoxibenzeno + indol; 1,4-dimetoxibenzeno + cinamaldeído e testemunha (sem volátil). As taxas de liberação dos semioquímicos (por 10 dias) foram de aproximadamente 32 mg dia -1 por liberador em condições de laboratório. Armadilhas iscadas com 1,4-dimetoxibenzeno capturaram mais insetos que a testemunha, três e sete dias após instalação das armadilhas. Dez dias após o início dos experimentos, não foram verificadas diferenças entre os tratamentos, no número de besouros capturados. Capturas foram maiores no tratamento com 1,4-dimetoxibenzeno + cinamaldeído do que no 1,4-dimetoxibenzeno sozinho na primeira avaliação. Adição do indole ao 1,4-dimetoxibenzeno não aumentou as capturas.

Cytogenetic analysis of Astylus antis (Perty, 1830) (Coleoptera, Melyridae): Karyotype, heterochromatin and location of ribosomal genes

“…The superfamily Cleroidea belongs to the suborder Polyphaga and comprises approximately 10,000 taxonomically described species ( Costa, 2003 ), distributed among eight families ( Lawrence and Newton, 1995 ), such as Melyridae, with approximately 5000 species, 68 of which occur in the Neotropical region ( Costa, 2003 ). The genus Astylus belongs to the family Melyridae and includes a number of Brazilian species, such as Astylus antis , A. quadrilineatus , A. sexmaculatus and A. variegatus , which are best known for visiting the flowers of cultivated plants, such as corn, cotton and sorghum ( Rosseto and Rosseto, 1976 ; Souza and Carvalho, 1994 ; Ventura et al , 2007 ).…”