INSECT AND HOST ODORS IN AGGREGATION OF WESTERN PINE BEETLE

Dendroctonus brevicomis Lec. responded in flight to combinations of insect- and host-produced volatiles. Emergent female beetles crushed at −70 °C, as well as synthetic exo-7-ethyl-5-methyl-6, 8-dioxabicyclo [3.2.1] octane (“brevicomin”) attracted both sexes of the western pine beetle when offered with oleoresin freshly tapped from the host, Pinus ponderosa Laws. Offered separately, these materials were inactive. Crushed emergent Dendroctonus ponderosae Hopk. males per se, however, attracted flying D. brevicomis in appreciable numbers. Dominance of either host odor or insect pheromone appeared to govern the sex ratio of the responding insects. © 1969, Entomological Society of Canada. All rights reserved.