Phytoparasitica (2003) 31 (3) - The aggregation pheromone of ...

S. Ben-Yehuda, A. Zada, E. Dunkelblum, T. Tolasch, W. Francke, R. Gries, G. Gries and Z. Mendel (2003)
The aggregation pheromone of the almond bark beetle Scolytus amygdali
Phytoparasitica 31 (3)
Abstracts 20th Conference of the Entomological Society of Israel, Feb. 11-12, 2003
Abstract: The almond bark beetle Scolytus amygdali Guerin (Coleoptera: Scolytidae) attacks stone and pome fruit trees in the Mediterranean region and in southern Europe. The beetle is considered to be a key pest of deciduous orchards in Israel, causing substantial economic damage. Identifying the aggregation pheromone of the beetle is the basis for developing an ad hoc pest management program by monitoring and mass trapping with pheromone traps. Beetles collected in stone fruit orchards were used to establish the mass rearing of S. amygdali. Volatiles emitted by the female boring into plum branches were collected on Porapak Q. GC-EAD analyses of volatile extracts were conducted, using female antennae as an electroantennographic detector. They revealed the following four EAD-active candidate pheromone components: (3S,4S)-4-methyl-3-heptanol (SS-I), most abundant and EAD-active; (3S,4S)-4-methyl-3-hexanol (SS-II); and two spiroketals: (5S,7S)-7-methyl-1,6-dioxaspiro[4,5]decane and 7-methyl-1,6-dioxaspiro[4,5]dec-8-ene. Field experiments, using funnel traps baited with polyethylene pheromone dispensers, showed that the greatest beetle captures were obtained using a mixture of SS-I + SS-II at a ratio of 2:1, with a dosage of 200-500 µg of SS-I. The capture of beetles using baits of racemic mixtures of the main components was significantly lower than the level of capture by the natural isomers of SS-I + SS-II. Adding the racemic mixtures of the spiroketals did not improve the level of capture. Comparison of the biological activity of each of the four stereoisomers of methyl-heptanol showed that only the natural isomer 3S,4S was attractive. The stereoisomers 3R,4R and 3R,4S significantly reduced the male capture. Traps baited with the racemic mixture of 4-methyl-3-heptanol and 4-methyl-3-hexanol are used in stone and pome fruits orchards in Israel for monitoring and mass trapping of the beetle.
(The abstract is excluded from the Creative Commons licence and has been copied with permission by the publisher.)
Database assignments for author(s): Gerhard Gries, Zvi Mendel

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.
	Scolytus amygdali	Plum/prune (Prunus domestica)	Israel