Arthropod-Plant Interactions (2014) 8, 373-381

Eve Veromann, Riina Kaasik, Gabriella Kovács, Luule Metspalu, Ingrid H. Williams and Marika Mänd (2014)
Fatal attraction: search for a dead-end trap crop for the pollen beetle (Meligethes aeneus)
Arthropod-Plant Interactions 8 (5), 373-381
Abstract: In sustainable pest management, orientation of insect pests can be manipulated by utilizing the relative attractiveness of different host plants. Plants attractive for oviposition but not offering a suitable resource for the development of larvae are called dead-end trap crops. In this study, the number of eggs and larvae and larval survival of Meligethes aeneus (Fab.) in the buds of Brassica napus L., B. rapa L., B. nigra L., B. juncea L., Eruca sativa Mill., Raphanus sativus Pers. and Sinapis alba L. were compared in 2011 and 2012. Overall infestation rate of buds varied from 0 to 71 %; the least attractive plants were S. alba and E. sativa. Egg clutch size per bud was greater on B. nigra and lower on S. alba and E. sativa than on B. napus. Dead larvae were found only in E. sativa and R. sativus buds. Over the two study years, 19 % of larvae on E. sativa and 35 % on R. sativus were dead. In conclusion, M. aeneus preferred to oviposit on Brassica species rather than on cruciferous plants from the other genera. In addition, R. sativus has the features of dead-end trap crop because 35 % of the larvae failed to survive.
(The abstract is excluded from the Creative Commons licence and has been copied with permission by the publisher.)
Link to article at publishers website
Database assignments for author(s): Eve Veromann, Gabriella Kovács, Luule Metspalu

Research topic(s) for pests/diseases/weeds:
general biology - morphology - evolution

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Pest and/or beneficial records:

Beneficial	Pest/Disease/Weed	Crop/Product	Country	Quarant.
	Brassicogethes aeneus	Rape/canola (Brassica napus)	Estonia
	Brassicogethes aeneus	Brassica - other species	Estonia