Pest Management Science (2021) 77, 817-823

Tao Zhang, Xiaofang Zhang, Kris A.G. Wyckhuys, Yongsheng Yao, Haiqiang Li, Wei Lu and Yanhui Lu (2021)
Optimization and field demonstration of the Lygus pratensis (Hemiptera: Miridae) sex pheromone
Pest Management Science 77 (2), 817-823
Abstract:
BACKGROUND
The plant bug Lygus pratensis Linnaeus is a widely distributed polyphagous herbivore that increasingly attains outbreak population levels on cotton in northwestern China. Although the sex pheromone of L. pratensis from the United Kingdom has been identified as hexyl butyrate, (E)-2-hexenyl butyrate and (E)-4-oxo-2-hexenal, at a ratio of 100:25:24, this volatile blend does not prove attractive to Chinese field populations.
RESULTS
In this study, we identified and optimized the sex pheromone of L. pratensis strains from northwestern China. In coupled gas chromatography and electro-antennogram detection (GC–EAD) assays, three compounds within whole-body extracts of virgin L. pratensis females elicited antennal responses: hexyl butyrate, (E)-2-hexenyl butyrate and (E)-4-oxo-2-hexenal. In field trials, a 20:1:30 ratio blend was the most attractive to L. pratensis males.
CONCLUSION
Traps baited with this synthetic pheromone blend present considerable advantages over traditional sweep-net sampling for L. pratensis population monitoring. It can readily be incorporated into monitoring schemes and integrated pest management packages.
(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): Kris A.G. Wyckhuys

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

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Pest and/or beneficial records:

Beneficial	Pest/Disease/Weed	Crop/Product	Country	Quarant.
	Lygus pratensis	Cotton (Gossypium)	China (NW)