Aggregation pheromone of Carpophilus dimidiatus (F) (Coleoptera: Nitidulidae) and responses to Carpophilus pheromones in South Carolina

The major component of the male-produced aggregation pheromone of Carpophilus dimidiatus (F.) is (3E, 5E, 7E, 9E)-6,8-diethyl-4-methyl-3,5,7,9- dodecatetraene. It attracts beetles of both sexes in the held and is synergized by odors from fermenting bread dough; mean trap catches for the tetraene alone, tetraene plus dough. dough alone, and control were 24.5, 48.3, 0.02, and 0.00, respectively. in the laboratory, individual males produced 0.58 mu g +/- 0.35 mu g (SD) of the tetraene per day, but males in groups of 10-50 produced < 2% as much per beetle. A second male-specific compound, (3E, 5E, 7E, 9E)-5,7-diethyl-9-methyl-3,5,7,9-trideca was also identified from C. dimidiatus and is about 5% as abundant as the major pheromone component. Carpophilus flight activity was monitored for one year in South Carolina corn fields with the pheromones for C. dimidiatus. C. freemani Dobson, C, mutilatus Erichson, C. hemipterus (L.), C. lugubris Murray, and C. obsoletus Erichson, all in combination with bread dough. The first four of these species accounted for 18, 70, 5.7, and 0.03%, respectively, of the total Carpophilus trapped, but no C. lugubris or C. obsoletus were captured. Captures of C. freemani were as high as 11,400/trap/week. Species specificity for the first four pheromones was high, except that a synthetic impurity in the C. dimidiatus pheromone was somewhat attractive to C. freemani and C. mutilatus. Three other species captured, C. antiquus Melsheimer, C. marginellus Motschulsky, and C, humeralis (F.), accounted for 0.005, 5.0, and 1.3% of the total catch, respectively. C. antiques was attracted primarily to the pheromone of C. dimidiatus, but C, marginellus and C. humeralis responded to most of the test pheromones. There were two major periods of Carpophilus Right activity: February through June and September through November.