Behavioral Responses of Plum Curculio (Coleoptera: Curculionidae) to Different Enantiomer Concentrations and Blends of the Synthetic Aggregation Pheromone Grandisoic Acid.

Abstract

The plum curculio, Conotrachelus nenuphar (Herbst) (Coleoptera: Curculionidae), is an important pest of fruit in North America. Males produce an aggregation pheromone (grandisoic acid) that attracts both sexes of the northern univoltine and the southern multivoltine strains. Grandisoic acid ((1R,2S)-1-methyl-2-(1-methylethenyl)-cyclobutaneacetic acid) is a chiral molecule containing one chiral center. A synthetic racemic mixture will contain two optical isomers that are mirror images of each other with equal amounts of (+)- and (-)-enantiomeric isomers. Male plum curculio only produce the (+) enantiomer. Some enantiomers can have antagonistic effects on the attraction of weevils to pheromones. An understanding of the effect of both enantiomers on the behaviour of plum curculio is needed to develop more efficient trap baits. Behavioural bioassays were conducted in a dual-choice still-air vertical olfactometer using a quantity of 1.5 ml of both (+) and (-) synthetic enantiomers and the racemic mixture of grandisoic acid with live female responders to determine which concentration and enantiomeric purity is the most attractive and if there is an antagonistic effect of the unnatural (-) enantiomer. Results indicated that plum curculio were attracted to low concentrations of the (+) enantiomer at 72% enantiomeric excess, but that strains were attracted to different concentrations of the (+) enantiomer (2×10(-7) mg/ml for univoltine, 2×10(-9) mg/ml for multivoltine).