Mating disruption of the ambrosia beetle Megaplatypus mutatus (Platypodinae, Curculionidae) in poplar and hazelnut plantations using reservoir systems for pheromones.

FUNES H; GRIFFO RAFAELE; ZERBA E; GONZALEZ AUDINO PAOLA

ENTOMOLOGIA EXPERIMENTALIS ET APPLICATA

WILEY-BLACKWELL PUBLISHING, INC

Año: 2011 vol. 139 p. 226 - 234

0013-8703

Megaplatypus mutatus is an Ambrosia beetle native to South America, but it has recently been introduced to Italy and represents a serious problem in poplar and fruit tree commercial plantations.  We provide the first evidence for pheromone mediated mating-disruption in a forest beetle. Male M. Mutatus emits a sex pheromone composed of (+)-6-methyl-5-hepten-2-ol ((+)-sulcatol), 6-methyl-5-hepten-2-one (sulcatone) and 3-pentanol. We made plastic pheromone reservoir type dispensers for sulcatol, sulcatone and 3-pentanol with zero order kinetics that were deployed in the field during the female flight period. .    Field trials were performed in poplar and hazelnut plantations in Argentina and Italy. The number of galleries where mating took place was significantly higher in control than in treated areas, indicating that pheromone application had intefered with female behavior and male localization. Damage reduction was greater than 56% in both countries. Our results show the potential pheromone-mediated mating disruption of M. mutatus in commercial poplar and hazelnut plantations.