The Role of Attractants and Feeding Stimulants in The Selection of Cucurbita Flowers by Diabroticite Beetles, (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae)

The floral fragrance of the male blossoms of Cucurbita maxima was analyzed chemically to determine the presence of olfactory stimulants for diabroticite beetles. While the mixture contained at least 40 components only one, indole, produced a substantial response in an electroantennogram bioassay. Field testing of indole using sticky traps showed it to be a potent attractant of the western corn rootworm, Diabrotica virgifera virgifera Le Conte and the striped cucumber beetle, Acalymma vittatum (Fabr.). The southern corn rootworm, Diabrotica undecimpunctata howardi Barber, however, was not attracted to indole baited traps. Western corn rootworm trap catch was found to vary seasonally with a period of low trap catches corresponding to the tasseling and silking period of the corn. Field measurements suggest that female western corn rootworms are more responsive to indole than males. However, this difference may be only a reflection of field sex ratios which vary seasonally.

Name thesis:degree_name

Ph.D.

Level thesis:degree_level

Dissertation

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Entomology

Grantor

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Year dc:date

2014

Author dc:creator

• Andersen, John Francis

• Biology, Entomology

Identifier

(UMI)AAI8502060

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:www.ideals.illinois.edu:2142/71094