Development of a Phytochemical-Based Lure for the Dried Bean Beetle Acanthoscelides obtectus Say (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae)

A - Papers appearing in refereed journals

Vuts, J., Szanyi, Sz., Szanyi, K., Koenig, L., Nagy, A., Imrei, Z., Birkett, M. A. and Toth, M. 2021. Development of a Phytochemical-Based Lure for the Dried Bean Beetle Acanthoscelides obtectus Say (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae). Journal of Chemical Ecology. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10886-021-01305-7

AuthorsVuts, J., Szanyi, Sz., Szanyi, K., Koenig, L., Nagy, A., Imrei, Z., Birkett, M. A. and Toth, M.
Abstract

The dried bean beetle, Acanthoscelides obtectus, is an economically important, worldwide pest of legume crops including dry beans, Phaseolus vulgaris. Assessment of A. obtectus infestation levels in pre-harvest field crops and post-harvest granaries is difficult to achieve because there is no effective monitoring tool for early detection so that interventions can be deployed as needed. Because A. obtectus is a generic pollen and nectar feeder, we adopted an electrophysiological (EAG) screening approach, using the antennae of female A. obtectus to identify physiologically active, volatile phytochemicals, which could then be investigated for their attractiveness to A. obtectus in laboratory behavioral assays and preliminary field tests. Of the 27 compounds tested in EAG screening, 5 compounds, i.e., methyl anthranilate, methyl eugenol, benzyl alcohol, (RS)-lavandulol, and 2-phenylethanol, elicited stronger EAG responses than the standard (1-phenylethanol). In 4-arm olfactometer bioassays, female A. obtectus preferred the olfactometer arm containing the odor of either methyl anthranilate or benzyl alcohol compared to the solvent control. In preliminary field tests using these 2 compounds as a binary mixture, at least 5 times as many beetles were caught on baited traps compared to non-baited traps. The field data also suggested that benzyl alcohol was primarily responsible for the field activity of the blend. We hypothesize that the attraction of A. obtectus to the combined benzyl alcohol/methyl anthranilate and the single benzyl alcohol baits is connected to the species` nectar- and pollen-feeding behaviour and not to its intraspecific communication. To our knowledge, this is the first evidence that A. obtectus behavior in the field can be modified by the deployment of plant-derived semiochemicals.

KeywordsBruchid beetle; Chrysomelidae; EAG; Olfactometry; Attractant; Lure; Trapping
Year of Publication2021
JournalJournal of Chemical Ecology
Digital Object Identifier (DOI)https://doi.org/10.1007/s10886-021-01305-7
Web address (URL)https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10886-021-01305-7#citeas
Open accessPublished as green open access
FunderBBSRC Industrial Strategy Challenge
Hungarian Scientific Research Fund (OTKA)
Royal Society
Funder project or codeBBSRC Strategic Programme in Smart Crop Protection
Chemical and visual cues mediating biotic interactions of pest and beneficial insects
Studies on the chemical ecology of the dry bean weevil for practical application
Accepted author manuscript
Output statusPublished
Publication dates
Online09 Aug 2021
Publication process dates
Accepted27 Jul 2021
PublisherSpringer
ISSN0098-0331

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