Sexual behaviour of Epicauta atomaria (Coleoptera: Meloidae), a pest of horticultural crops, a preliminary study.

WAGNER LEANDRO SEBASTIAN; CAMPOS-SOLDINI PAULA; GUERENSTEIN PABLO; SANFENRAITER MELANIA

Foz do Iguaçu

Congreso; 1st Joint Meeting ISCE/ALAEQ; 2016

ISCE/ALAEQ

Epicauta atomaria, which belongs to the E. maculata complex, is an important pest of different horticultural crops, including chard; potato; beetroot. It is found in South America and is abundant in low-lying roadside habitats adjacent to grazed areas or crop. Nothing is known about the sexual behavior of this species although the sexual behavior of some related North American species has been described. An understanding of its sexual behavior could be important for the development of methods of monitoring and control of this pest using synthetic pheromones. We recently started to study the sexual behaviour of E. atomaria. For this, couples of E. atomaria are placed in glass containers under controlled light and temperature conditions. Their behaviour is recorded with a digital camera for at least 10 minutes. Preliminary observations suggest that the sexual courtship of E. atomaria includes a display during which the male walks behind the female and rubs and/or presses the antennas on the elytra of the female. Males rarely used their maxillary palps to contact the female. This display lasts almost a minute and is usually followed by attempts of the male to mount the female. This suggests that contact sex pheromones may exist, as in the case of other meloids. We plan to continue characterizing the sexual behaviour of this meloid so that identification of putative pheromones could be carried out.