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Research Project: Basic and Applied Approaches for Pest Management in Vegetable Crops

Location: Vegetable Research

Title: Identification of sex attractants for six North American click beetle species in four tribes of the Elateridae

Author
item MILLAR, JOCELYN - University Of California, Riverside
item Williams, Livy
item Serrano, Jacqueline
item MCELRATH, THOMAS - University Of Illinois
item ZOU, YUNFAN - University Of California, Riverside
item GROMMES-YEAGER, ANNA - University Of Illinois
item SCHOEPPNER, EMMA - North Carolina State University
item HUSETH, ANDERS - North Carolina State University
item KUHAR, THOMAS - Virginia Tech
item ETZLER, FRANK - Montana Department Of Agriculture
item HANKS, LAWRENCE - University Of Illinois

Submitted to: Environmental Entomology
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 8/27/2024
Publication Date: 9/20/2024
Citation: Millar, J.G., Williams Iii, L.H., Serrano, J.M., Mcelrath, T.C., Zou, Y., Grommes-Yeager, A.C., Schoeppner, E., Huseth, A.S., Kuhar, T.P., Etzler, F.E., Hanks, L.M. 2024. Identification of sex attractants for six North American click beetle species in four tribes of the Elateridae. Environmental Entomology. 54(4):1-8. https://doi.org/10.1093/ee/nvae077.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1093/ee/nvae077

Interpretive Summary: Wireworms, the larvae of click beetles, are insect pests that inhabit the soil and feed on many staple crops such as potatoes and cereals. These pests have become increasingly problematic in North America in recent years, in part due to the lack of effective management strategies. Sex pheromones have been identified for a few species, which has lead to nationwide field testing of naturally produced pheromones and their structural analogs to jump start pheromone identification for other problematic species. An large team of researchers that included researchers at the USDA-ARS in Wapato, WA and Charleston, SC investigated the utility of pheromones and attractants developed for click beetle species across different locations in the U.S. Our results indicated that the sex pheromones and structural analogs, were attractive to male beetles of several species across the regions explored. Now that we know the which compounds are attractive, we can use them for trapping and monitoring. Lastly, this data can be used to rapidly identify the female produced pheromone of these species once they are collected.

Technical Abstract: Here, we describe field experiments which evaluated several potential sex pheromone components as attractants for six North American species of click beetles. In field trials carried out in Illinois, South Carolina, North Carolina, and Virginia, male beetles were strongly attracted to 5-methylhexyl (Z)-4-decenoate (Elater abruptus Say), 11-dodecenyl butyrate (Melanotus ignobilis Melsheimer), limoniic acid (Gambrinus griseus [Palisot de Beauvois], G. rudis [Brown], and G. plebejus [Say]), and geranyl butyrate (Agriotes insanus Candèze). Collection of E. abruptus in South Carolina represents a new state record, and possibly the southern-most extent of its range. For each of the focal species, capture rates varied geographically and temporally. These differences may have been due in part to differences in local population densities and regional phenology, or efficiency of different trap designs or placement. Structural similarities were observed between the attractive compounds in our study and previously identified pheromones of closely related species. For example, the attractant for E. abruptus, 5-methylhexyl (Z)-4-decenoate, is an analog of the pheromone of the European congener E. ferrugineus L., and the attractant for M. ignobilis, 11-dodecenyl butyrate, is an analog of attractants of European and Asian congeners. Agriotes insanus Candèze males were attracted to geranyl butyrate, analogous to the terpenoid ester pheromones of a number of European congeners. Attraction of the three Gambrinus species to limoniic acid parallels recent reports of congeners to this compound, which was originally identified from closely related Limonius species. Full identifications of additional sex pheromones for elaterid species should provide a more complete picture of the diversities/similarities of the semiochemicals mediating reproductive behaviors of this biologically diverse and taxonomically complex group.