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ARS Home » Southeast Area » Stuttgart, Arkansas » Dale Bumpers National Rice Research Center » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #242880
Title: Attractants for the Green June Beetle, Cotinis nitida (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae)

Author
item JOHNSON, D - University Of Arkansas
item LEWIS, B - University Of Arkansas
item Bryant, Rolfe
item LIYANAGE, R - University Of Arkansas
item LAY, J - University Of Arkansas
item PSZCZOLKOWSKI, M - Missouri State University

Submitted to: Journal of Economic Entomology Biological Control
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 7/22/2009
Publication Date: 12/1/2009
Citation: Johnson, D.T., Lewis, B.A., Bryant, R.J., Liyanage, R., Lay, J.O., Pszczolkowski, M.A. 2009. Attractants for the Green June Beetle (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae). Journal of Economic Entomology. 102(6):2224-2232.

Interpretive Summary: The green June beetle (or fig-eater) costs the fruit industry $3.6 million in yield loss and $712 per acre for insecticide spraying. This study developed and evaluated a lures trap that reduced the fruit damage due to green June beetle to a level less than that obtained by spraying insecticide. The results obtained from this study will benefit farmers by reducing the cost of spraying insecticide and increasing their yield, and will benefit consumers by reducing the cost of fruit, and will be beneficial to researchers who are interested in alternative method of pest control.

Technical Abstract: The purpose of this study was to develop and evaluate lures for adult green June beetles, Cotinis nitida (L.), for future use in a mass trapping program. Volatile organic compounds collected from head space of green June beetles feeding on fermenting ripe apple, the natural lure that elicits feeding aggregations, were identified and confirmed by gas chromatography and mass spectrometry. Yellow funnel traps baited with 91% isopropanol or the five component TRE blend were equally effective in eliciting aggregation behavior and often more attractive to green June beetles than the natural lure. In 2008, three trap lines adjacent and parallel to the perimeter of two vineyards, each with 12 Xpando yellow funnel traps baited with either 91% isopropanol or the TRE blend, differed in catch of green June beetles across sample dates, and sample date by bait interaction but there were no differences among these two baits. A season total of 324,007 green June beetle were captured by these 36 baited traps. A brief review is included of fermentation volatiles attractive to insects. We conclude with the potential cost to use the mass trapping against adult green June beetles.