Host odours enhance the responses of adult Rhyzopertha dominica to male‐produced aggregation pheromone

Abstract

The behavioural responses of adult male and female Rhyzopertha dominica (Coleoptera, Bostrichidae) to blends of host volatiles and male‐produced aggregation pheromone were observed in a four‐arm airflow olfactometer. The odour sources used were five pheromone‐releasing males each on a single maize grain (lower maize‐volatiles blend), five pheromone‐releasing males on 500 g of maize (higher maize‐volatiles blend) or the host volatiles emanating from 500g of maize (maize volatiles alone). Multiple‐choice tests, in which volatiles from all three odour sources were presented in the exposure chamber at the same time, were used to study odour preferences of the males and females. Both sexes showed strongest attraction to the higher maize volatile blend but there were significant sex differences in response to the odour sources. Males spent significantly more time than females in the zone with only maize volatiles, and females spent significantly more time in the higher maize‐volatiles zone. However, when odour sources were offered singly, females gave numerically greater responses than males to all sources although this difference was statistically significant for only the lower maize‐volatiles blend. As males are more attracted than females to host odours alone it is suggested that they may be more highly adapted to seek out new hosts while females are more inclined to locate a food source by following the pheromone signals produced by males. However, both sexes responded most strongly to the odour source comprising aggregation pheromone with the higher proportion of maize volatiles.

Establishing the behavioral basis for an attract-and-kill strategy to manage the invasive Halyomorpha halys in apple orchards

“…Other stink bugs, for example M. histrionica, use natural cues (semiochemicals) emitted by their host plants (e.g., collards in this case), as traps baited with the species' aggregation pheromone are much more attractive when coupled with the host plant (Weber et al 2014b). In Rhyzopertha dominica (F.) (Coleoptera: Bostrichidae), the presence of maize host odors enhances the response of conspecifics to male-produced aggregation pheromone (Bashir et al 2001). Previous studies show that the release of an aggregation pheromone by certain species is treated as a clear indicator by conspecifics that there is something favorable about the specific location, whether that is mating opportunities, food, defense, overwintering site, or something else (Wertheim et al 2005).…”

Kernel-kernel interactions and behavioral responses of Sitophilus zeamais Motschulsky (Coleoptera: Curculionidae)

“…Several plant-derived volatiles have been proved to be determinative of stored-product beetle behavior (Phillips et al, 1993;Landolt and Phillips, 1997;Trematerra et al, 1999Trematerra et al, , 2000Bashir et al, 2002;Athanassiou et al, 2003); however, there is still inadequate information on kernel-kernel inter-132 P. TREMATERRA et al Fig. 3.…”

Responses of Sitophilus oryzae (Coleoptera: Curculionidae) and Tribolium confusum (Coleoptera: Tenebrionidae) to traps baited with pheromones and food volatiles

“…Several plant-derived volatiles have affect in storedproduct beetle behaviour (Phillips et al, 1993;Landolt & Phillips, 1997;Bashir et al, 2001;Athanassiou et al, 2003;Collins et al, 2004) such as carob extracts, for instance, used in a multi-species lure (Collins & Chambers, 2003;Collins et al, 2004). In our tests, S. oryzae on its own exhibited a strong preference for the attractant lure, at both 1 g and 2 g concentrations, suggesting that this source is attractive for this species.…”