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ARS Home » Northeast Area » Kearneysville, West Virginia » Appalachian Fruit Research Laboratory » Innovative Fruit Production, Improvement, and Protection » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #344989
Title: Olfactometer responses of plum curculio Conotrachelus nenuphar (Herbst) (Coleoptera: Curculionidae) to host plant volatiles, synthetic grandisoic acid, and live conspecifics

Author
item HOCK, VIRGINIA - Institute For Research And Development In Agri-Environment(IRDA)
item CHOUINARD, GERALD - Institute For Research And Development In Agri-Environment(IRDA)
item LUCAS, ERIC - University Of Quebec
item CORMIER, DANIEL - Institute For Research And Development In Agri-Environment(IRDA)
item Leskey, Tracy
item Zhang, Aijun

Submitted to: Journal of Insect Behavior
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 7/31/2017
Publication Date: 8/14/2017
Citation: Hock, V., Chouinard, G., Lucas, E., Cormier, D., Leskey, T.C., Zhang, A. 2017. Olfactometer responses of plum curculio Conotrachelus nenuphar (Herbst) (Coleoptera: Curculionidae) to host plant volatiles, synthetic grandisoic acid, and live conspecifics. Journal of Insect Behavior. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10905-017-9634-0.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10905-017-9634-0

Interpretive Summary: The plum curculio Conotrachelus nenuphar (Herbst) (Coleoptera: Curculionidae) is a serious pest of apples, peaches, tart cherries and blueberries. Understanding what odor stimuli may be attractive to this pest will be key to the development of monitoring tools for this pest. Here, we examined the response of immature and mature females in laboratory tests to benzaldehyde; trans-2-hexenal; apples; extracts of plums, apples, and blueberries; grandisoic acid; and live males. Plum essence was found to be the most attractive host-plant odour for both immature and mature virgin females, and immature whole apples were attractive to starved females, while trans-2-hexenal, McIntosh apple essence, benzaldehyde along with the combination of benzaldehyde and plum essence was found to repel females under the conditions tested.

Technical Abstract: The plum curculio Conotrachelus nenuphar (Herbst) (Coleoptera: Curculionidae) is a major pest of pome and stone fruit, but will also attack other fruits. Males produce the aggregation pheromone grandisoic acid; emitting only the (+)- enantiomer which is attractive to both sexes of the univoltine and multivoltine strains, while the synthetic racemic mixture contains optical isomers with equal amounts of (+)- and (-)-enantiomers. Synergy between odours can increase trap captures and improve monitoring techniques; therefore, tests were performed in a dual-choice olfactometer with odours attractive to plum curculios according to literature to determine: 1) under what physiological conditions (mating status, age, starvation period) these odours are attractive or repulsive, 2) if the (+)-enantiomer or the odour of live males synergizes with host plant volatiles, and 3) if there is a difference in response between plum curculio strains. Females were exposed to benzaldehyde; trans-2-hexenal; apples; extracts of plums, apples, and blueberries; grandisoic acid; and live males. Plum essence was found to be the most attractive host-plant odour for both immature and mature virgin females, and immature whole apples were attractive to starved females, while trans-2-hexenal, McIntosh apple essence, benzaldehyde along with the combination of benzaldehyde and plume essence was found to be repulsive. Starvation, age, and mated status all influence response to odours. No synergistic or additive affects were observed between any of the odour combinations tested, including the combination of both the natural and synthetic pheromone and plum essence or apples.