Identification and field verification of an aggregation pheromone from the white-spotted flower chafer, Protaetia brevitarsis Lewis (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae)

Abstract

The white-spotted flower chafer (WSFC), Protaetia brevitarsis Lewis, is native to East Asia. Although their larvae are considered a potential resource insect for degrading plant residues, producing protein fodder, and processing to traditional medicine, adult WSFCs inflict damage to dozens of fruit and economic crops. The control of the WSFC still relies heavily on pesticides and the inefficient manual extraction of adults. Here, we report the identification and evaluation of the aggregation pheromone of WSFCs. From the headspace volatiles emitted from WSFC adults, anisole, 4-methylanisole, 2-heptanone and 2-nonanone were identified as WSFC-specific components. However, only anisole and 4-methylanisole elicited positive dose–response relationship in electroantennography tests, and only 4-methylanisole significantly attracted WSFCs of both sexes in olfactometer bioassays and field experiments. These results concluded that 4-methylanisole is the aggregation pheromone of WSFCs. Furthermore, we developed polyethylene vials as long-term dispensers of 4-methylanisole to attract and kill WSFCs. The polyethylene vial lures could effectively attracted WSFCs for more than four weeks. Pheromone-based lures can be developed as an environmentally friendly protocol for monitoring and controlling WSFC adults.

Characterization of Microorganisms from Protaetia brevitarsis Larva Frass

“…The cetoniid beetle Protaetia brevitarsis (PB) (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae) is an easy-to-raise litter-feeding soil insect that can convert decaying plant biomass into frass with a high humic acid (HA) content [1][2][3]. Beyond converting agricultural waste, the mature PB larvae (PBLs) have other beneficial economic effects: (1) the processed mature larva is a traditional medicine that has many benefits for human health [1,[4][5][6][7][8], and (2) the mature larva contains high-quality fat and protein, which can be considered a future feed and food source [9]. Therefore, PB and its application have recently become a meaningful research subject.…”

Seasonal host shifts based on midgut residues of Protaetia brevitarsis

“…Various plant volatiles serve as important chemical signals for phytophagous insects to locate food [14,44,45]. Maladera orientalis has a signi cant preference for the volatiles trans-3-hexenol and cis-3-hexenol released by peach leaves [46], and P. brevitarsis adults have strong electroantennography responses to various host volatiles of alcohols and aldehydes, particularly 4-methylisole, which attracts males and females [47][48][49]. Other plant species release speci c volatiles after damage that attract insects.…”

Effect of Protaetia brevitarsis larval frass fertilizer on the growth of ginseng sprout (Panax ginseng) in commercial potting soil

“…흰점박이꽃무지 (Protaetia brevitarsis)는 한반도를 포함한 중국 및 주변 국가 전역에 서식하는 딱정벌레목 꽃무지 아과 곤충이며, 토양 부식질, 썩은 식물 잔재, 동물 분뇨 등 다양한 유기성 부산물을 먹이로 한다 (Kang et al, 2005;Tian et al, 2017;Wang et al, 2019). 흰점박이꽃무지 유충은 단백질 함량이 풍부하고 항염증, 간 질환, 유방암 치료 와 같은 효능을 지닌 생약질 성분을 함유하여 전통 의약 재료로도 활용된다 (Kang et al, 2005;Yoo et al, 2007;Lee et al, 2016;Wang et al, 2019;Ham et al, 2021;Zhang et al, 2021). 포식성이 강하지 않고 섭식량이 많아 배설물의 연간 발생량은 1,705 ton 정도이며 (Kim et al, 2020a), 양분과 유기물 함량은 높고 (Li et al, 2019;Wang et al, 2019;Wei et al, 2020;Joung et al, 2022b) 중금속 함량이 낮아 시용에 따른 피해가 없다 (Joung et al, 2022a).…”