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Beetle pheromone lures both sexes (Aug. 21, 2002 -- CropChoice news) -- The following is an article from the USDA Agricultural Research Service
by Rosalie Marion Bliss
Agricultural Research Service scientists have discovered a pheromone
produced by male Colorado potato beetles--but attractive to both sexes--that
may lead to new environmentally sound pest management methods to protect
potatoes. The Colorado potato beetle is the potato crop's most destructive
pest, costing growers millions of dollars annually in crop losses and
expenditures for synthetic pesticides.
The ARS scientists, led by entomologist Joseph C. Dickens with the Chemicals
Affecting Insect Behavior Laboratory in Beltsville, Md., reported their
discovery in the July issue of the Journal of Experimental Biology.
The Colorado potato beetle rapidly develops resistance to synthetic
pesticides, many of which are now being reevaluated by regulators. The
pheromone, however, is a natural byproduct of the beetle's metabolism, so
the evolution of resistance to it is unlikely. Using the pheromone as a
natural chemical for luring and killing the beetles may one day lessen the
amount of synthetic insecticides required for pest control.
For 75 years, scientists in the United States, Canada and Europe have
searched for scents that attract the Colorado potato beetle. The generally
accepted view had been that a pheromone attractant would be found in
females. Thus, the discovery of the attractant in males provides a new model
for this beetle's chemical communication.
Since 2000, Dickens has identified several scents based on chemicals in
potato plants themselves. Those scents were made into the first experimental
plant lures to prove effective in field tests.
Under a cooperative research and development agreement with ARS, Trece,
Inc., of Salinas, Calif., hopes to create products based on the newly
discovered attractants that will exploit the insects' own communication
system. New products based on the technology could include attracticides, or
bait lures, formulated with small amounts of killing agents.
The scientists now will conduct more tests to determine when and how
products using the pheromone-based attractant will transfer successfully
from lab to field. | |
