Activity of male pheromone of Melanesian rhinoceros beetle Scapanes australis
Rochat, Didier | Morin, Jean-Paul | Kakul, Titus | Beaudoin-Ollivier, Laurence | Prior, Robert N.B. | Renou, Michel | Malosse, Isabelle | Stathers, Tanya | Embupa, Sebastian | Laup, Samson
Laboratory and field investigations were carried out to investigate the nature and role of the male pheromone emitted by the dynast beetle Scapanes australis and to develop a mass trapping technique against this major coconut pest in Papua New Guinea. We report the biological data obtained from natural and synthetic pheromone, previously described as a 84:12:4 (w/w) mixture of 2-butanol (1), 3-hydroxy-2-butanone (2), and 2,3-butanediol (3). EAG recordings from natural and synthetic pheromone and a pitfall olfactometer were poorly informative. In contrast, extensive field trapping trials with various synthetic pheromone mixtures and doses showed that 1 and 2 (formulated in polyethylene sachets in 90:5 v/v ratio) were necessary and sufficient for optimum long-range attraction. Beetles were captured on traps baited with racemic 1 plus 2, with or without a stereoisomer mixture of 3 (2.5- to 2500-mg/day doses). Plant pieces, either sugarcane or coconut, enhanced captures by the synthetic pheromone, which was active alone. Traps with the pheromone caught both sexes in a 3:2 female-male ratio. A pheromone-based mass trapping led to the capture of 2173 beetles in 14 traps surrounding 40 ha of a cocoa-coconut plantation. The captures followed a log-linear decrease during the 125-week trapping program. The role of the male pheromone and its potential for crop protection are discussed. (Résumé d'auteur)
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