Environmental Entomology (1999) 28, 961-967

L. Hammack, B.E. Hibbard, C.W. Holyoke, M. Kline and D.M. Leva (1999)
Behavioral response of corn rootworm adults to host plant volatiles perceived by western corn rootworm (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae)
Environmental Entomology 28 (6), 961-967
Abstract: We used field bioassays to evaluate maize silk volatiles with electroantennogram (EAG) activity in western corn rootworm, Diabrotica virgifera virgifera LeConte, for effects on the behavior of feral adult western and northern corn rootworm, D. barberi Smith and Lawrence. Test volatiles from maize silk were 2-tridecanone, (E,Z)-2,6-nonadienal, (E,E)-3,5-octadien-2-one, and (E)-2-nonenal. Two analogs of the silk volatiles, (E,Z)-3,7-decadien-2-one and 3-nonene-2-one, also were tested. None of the EAG-active maize silk volatiles was attractive to either Diabrotica species, whether tested alone or in selected mixtures, although there was evidence of slight attraction to (E,Z)-3,7-decadien-2-one by northern corn rootworm females. A mixture of 2-tridecanone, (E,Z)-2,6-nonadienal, (E,E)-3,5-octadien-2-one, and (E,Z)-3,7-decadien-2-one markedly reduced capture of both sexes and species on traps also baited with a standard lure. In some cases, the same mixture when tested by itself reduced northern corn rootworm capture below that on control traps, suggesting mixture repellency. Activity was traced primarily to 2-tridecanone for northern corn rootworm, but this ketone had no tendency to repel western corn rootworm. (E,Z)-2,6-Nonadienal interfered weakly with western corn rootworm response to the standard lure, but did not account for mixture potency. Potential applications of adult repellents to protect maize from corn rootworm damage are discussed.
(The abstract is excluded from the Creative Commons licence and has been copied with permission by the publisher.)
Database assignments for author(s): Leslie Hammack, Bruce E. Hibbard

Research topic(s) for pests/diseases/weeds:
pheromones/attractants/traps
control - general

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Pest and/or beneficial records:

Beneficial	Pest/Disease/Weed	Crop/Product	Country	Quarant.
	Diabrotica virgifera	Maize/corn (Zea mays)
	Diabrotica barberi	Maize/corn (Zea mays)