Artificial carbon dioxide source to attract lesser cornstalk borer (Lepidoptera: Pyralidae) larvae.

Abstract

Different combinations of urea, urease (in jack bean meal, Canavalia DC.), and water were tested as carbon dioxide sources to attract larvae of lesser cornstalk borer, Elasmopalus lignosellus (Zeller), by using olfactory bioassays with an olfactometer and infrared gas analysis. A combination of urea, jack bean meal, and water was necessary to release a high level of carbon dioxide to attract the larvae. Different proportions of the three ingredients had different carbon dioxide release rates and exhibited different levels of attraction to the larvae. When carbon dioxide concentration was too high, attractiveness declined. Combinations with different amounts of water remained attractive for a period of up to 3 d, depending on the moisture of the samples. When Zonolite was used to simulate the soil conditions in the olfactometer, significantly more larvae located the area near the artificial carbon dioxide sources compared with the control. When combined with the artificial carbon dioxide sources, three insecticides (Lorsban, Temik, and Force) did not obviously affect the release rates of carbon dioxide, and more larvae were attracted to samples with the carbon dioxide source than to the samples without carbon dioxide.