Developing a non‐sticky trap design for monitoring jewel beetles

Abstract

There is an urgent need in Europe to prepare resources for the arrival of the emerald ash borer, Agrilus planipennis (Buprestidae, Coleoptera) from European Russia, and possibly other invasive jewel beetles. A lightweight, easy to handle, non‐sticky trap could facilitate monitoring and detection to derive information about emerald ash borer and other jewel beetle populations. In two experiments carried out over two consecutive years in an oak forest, a new non‐sticky multi‐funnel trap design with a light‐green (sometimes described as fluorescent yellow) visual cue was developed. Altogether, there were 238 (2018) and 194 (2019) specimens captured often (2018) and eight (2019) Agrilus species, eight of which are oak‐related and one (A. convexicollis) was linked to ash. The new light‐green multi‐funnel trap performed similarly to the sticky design with a similar coloured surface. Our results suggest that the new trap design may be suitable for catching a wide range of buprestid species. It may also have the potential to be further optimized with respect to visual and olfactory cues, which would provide an even more useful tool for monitoring both invasive and indigenous buprestids.

Effect of Trap Color on Captures of Bark- and Wood-Boring Beetles (Coleoptera; Buprestidae and Scolytinae) and Associated Predators

“…Females commonly rest on tree foliage and males locate them, guided by the spectral emission profiles of the females' body [23][24][25]. For this reason, metallic green-colored species, such as Agrilus spp., are attracted by green traps, e.g., [31,[41][42][43]82], whereas species with darker metallic coloration such as C. affinis (in our study) or Coroebus undatus (F.) (in previous studies) are mainly attracted by darker trap colors, such as purple or blue [35,36,81].…”

Two chiral types of randomly rotated ommatidia are distributed across the retina of the flathead oak borer,Coraebus undatus(Coleoptera: Buprestidae)

“…Species from Agrilus and Coraebus genera are attracted by green-or purple-colored traps, respectively (Francese et al, 2010;Fürstenau et al, 2015;Imrei et al, 2020). More importantly, in some beetles, the cuticular reflections are linearly polarized, suggesting that the beetles could use object-directed (or 'non-celestial') polarization vision in intraspecific communication (Stavenga et al, 2011).…”

The Optimal Choice of Trap Type for the Recently Spreading Jewel Beetle Pests Lamprodila festiva and Agrilus sinuatus (Coleoptera, Buprestidae)

“…Further, the optical features of the sticky material may, in fact, attract these species. On the contrary, according to literature data and our own experience [17], multifunnel traps (light green MULTz and 12-funnel green Lindgren) are at least as effective as sticky light green PALz traps for trapping several oak-dependent Agrilus spp., including A. obscuricollis Kiesenwetter, A. graminis Laporte et Gory, A. angustulus (Illiger), A. laticornis (Illiger), A. litura, A. olivicolor Kiesenwetter, and the ash-dependent A. convexicollis Redtenbacher [17], and A. planipennis [31].…”

“…Although Agrilus spp., such as A. sinuatus, can only be controlled with chemical measures in their adult stage or as a young larva [14], efficient tools for its detection or monitoring, including recognition of establishment at newly invaded sites, are missing [13], similarly to L. festiva [18] and several other pest jewel beetles [17,18]. This is due to their small size, being swift flyers (not easy to observe), and because the larvae develop hidden under the bark of trees, resulting in their presence being invisible to unexperienced eyes [13,36].…”

“…As efficient tools for the detection or monitoring of L. festiva and A. sinuatus are lacking to date [13,14,17,18], our aim was to develop traps for the detection and monitoring of the two jewel beetle species. A key requirement was that the traps be easy to handle and cost-effective, which would make them economically more viable.…”