Field trials of pheromone blends of longhorned beetles in South Korea

Abstract

Longhorned beetles (Coleoptera: Cerambycidae) are a diverse family of wood-boring insects that provide valuable ecosystem services but also cause significant damage to forests and crops. South Korea is a crucial region for studying Cerambycidae due to the presence of invasive and endemic pests. In this study, we tested four blends of known cerambycid pheromones and a control (isopropanol) as attractants for longhorned beetles in two sites in central Korea and two sites in Jeju Island in southern Korea from April to August 2022. A total of 309 individuals from 17 species were caught, with five species being significantly attracted to a particular pheromone blend. The attraction of species whose pheromones are not known to specific blends provides promising leads that can be used to expedite identification of the actual pheromones for these species. Our results also provide further confirmation that pheromone components are often widely shared among related cerambycid taxa on different continents.