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- Title
Improved lure for redbay ambrosia beetle developed by enrichment of α-copaene content.
- Authors
Kendra, Paul; Montgomery, Wayne; Deyrup, Mark; Wakarchuk, David
- Abstract
The exotic redbay ambrosia beetle, Xyleborus glabratus Eichhoff, has become a serious invasive pest in the USA, now established in eight southeastern states. Females are the primary vectors of a fungal pathogen, Raffaelea lauricola, that causes laurel wilt, a lethal disease of trees in the family Lauraceae. Laurel wilt has caused extensive mortality in native Persea species, including redbay ( P. borbonia), swampbay ( P. palustris), and silkbay ( P. humilis), and currently it threatens avocado ( P. americana) in Florida. With continued spread, laurel wilt may impact additional Lauraceae throughout the Americas. Currently, the most effective lures for X. glabratus contain cubeb oil, an essential oil composed of a complex mixture of terpenoids. To elucidate the primary attractants of X. glabratus, fractional distillation was used to separate whole cubeb oil into 17 fractions. All fractions were used initially as substrates for electroantennographic (EAG) analyses to assess olfactory response; then eight representative fractions were chosen for binary-choice bioassays to assess behavioral response. Although fractions containing monoterpenes elicited the strongest EAG responses, significant attraction of X. glabratus was observed only with fractions that contained high percentages of the sesquiterpenes α-copaene and α-cubebene. This information was used to prepare two prototype lures, one of which contained copaiba oil (an essential oil consisting of 10 % α-copaene), and the other a proprietary product enriched to 50 % (−)-α-copaene content. In field trials, the copaiba and commercial cubeb lures captured equal numbers of X. glabratus, but the 50 % copaene lure captured significantly more beetles and had field longevity of 3 months.
- Subjects
AMBROSIA beetles; SESQUITERPENES; INSECT pests; PATHOGENIC fungi; PLANT mortality; PERSEA
- Publication
Journal of Pest Science, 2016, Vol 89, Issue 2, p427
- ISSN
1612-4758
- Publication type
Article
- DOI
10.1007/s10340-015-0708-5