Abstract
Studies in Australia and China identified host-plant volatile blends from peach and pear that captured relatively high numbers of Grapholita molesta (Busck). To determine if these blends are attractants in other countries and relative to each other, the two host-plant blends, a laboratory blend identified in Switzerland, and a new “total blend” made by mixing components of all three blends, were field-tested in Chile for the first time. The same solvent type, concentrations, and dispensers as in the original studies, plus an additional concentration and solvent, were used. Only the Swiss blend at the low n-hexane concentration captured significantly more males than the solvent traps, albeit in very low numbers (1.46 ± 1.46, mean ± SEM males/trap/week). Furthermore, host-plant blends decreased male captures in sex pheromone traps, and the effect was dose-dependent for the Chinese and total blends. A laboratory flight tunnel test confirmed the lack of G. molesta male response to the Australian, Chinese, and Swiss plant blends. In the flight tunnel, however, the males responded sooner and in higher numbers to mixtures of sex pheromone with host-plant blends than they did to the sex pheromone alone.
Highlights
Moths rely on their sense of smell to locate mates
The four traps baited with sex pheromone septa captured a total of 1,632 males, whereas, the four traps baited with sex pheromone microcentrifuge tubes captured a total of 215 males
Of these 64 males, 61 were captured in the 4th weekly check, and these captures clustered mainly in 3 particular traps: 35 males in a trap baited with the low-dose Swiss host-plant blend in n-hexane, 15 males in a trap baited with the high-dose Chinese hostplant blend in mineral oil, and 9 males in a trap baited with a high-dose Total host-plant blend in n-hexane
Summary
Moths rely on their sense of smell to locate mates. Females release relatively small quantities of highly volatile pheromone molecules detected by very sensitive receptors on the male antennae (Allison and Cardé 2016). The high sensitivity and species-specificity of moth sex pheromones and their strong effect on males has made them a cornerstone tool in moth pest control. Sex pheromones are used to disrupt mating and so reduce population levels and crop damage (Miller and Gut 2015; Witzgall et al.2010). One way to determine if mating disruption negatively affects male attraction is to use sex pheromone traps to compare male captures in pheromone-disrupted and nondisrupted crops. Pheromone traps attract only males, no information is available on the mating status of females (Light et al 2017). One method to facilitate monitoring of males and females in sex pheromone disrupted crops is to use host-plant volatile lures (Miller and Gut 2015). Despite the potential importance of plant volatiles in pest management, there are relatively few commercial plant volatile attractants for moth control
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