Linking Semiochemical Ecology and Spatial Dynamics to Improve Integrated Pest Management of Striped Cucumber Beetle, Acalymma vittatum

The striped cucumber beetle, Acalymma vittatum (Fabr.), is a major early-season pest of cucurbits in eastern North America because overwintering adults injure seedlings while they are young and highly vulnerable to feeding damage or infection by Erwinia tracheiphila, the causal agent of bacterial wilt. This early vulnerability makes it important to reduce beetle activity before aggregations develop on young crop plants. This dissertation examined striped cucumber beetle semiochemical attraction, spatial capture patterns, baited-trap operating range, and early-season perimeter trap deployment to inform future selective semiochemical-based management strategies. The first study compared semiochemical lures for striped cucumber beetle attraction and non-target bee captures. Treatments containing vittatalactone, the A. vittatum aggregation pheromone, consistently produced the highest striped cucumber beetle captures while maintaining low bee bycatch. Pairing vittatalactone with indole as a companion lure may further improve A. vittatum captures without increasing bycatch. The second study examined how vittatalactone-baited trap captures were distributed across farm landscapes. A. vittatum captures were generally higher nearer tree lines, suggesting that placing traps along wooded field edges may improve early-season interception. The third study used fluorescent-marked beetles released at different distances from a vittatalactone + indole-baited sticky trap to estimate its operational range. Predicted recapture among dispersing beetles fell to 1% at approximately 12 m, suggesting that trap-out will likely require relatively dense trap arrays to maintain effective coverage. The final field study tested whether early-season perimeter trapping with vittatalactone + indole-baited sticky traps could reduce beetle activity within production cucurbit fields. This interval was chosen to intercept overwintered adults before crop-associated cues could compete strongly with traps and to reduce early aggregation on vulnerable seedlings. Trap-out sites had lower striped cucumber beetle activity during crop establishment and early crop development in 2024, although this effect was not repeated in 2025. Together, these findings show that semiochemical trap-out can reduce striped cucumber beetle pressure under some field conditions and, with refinement, could support a viable early-season management strategy.

Name thesis:degree_name

Doctor of Philosophy

Level thesis:degree_level

doctoral

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Entomology

Department dc:contributor.department

Entomology

Grantor dc:publisher

Virginia Tech

Year dc:date.issued

2026

Author dc:creator

• Nunez, Demian Antonio

Chair dc:contributor.committeechair

• Kuhar, Thomas P.

Committee members dc:contributor.committeemember

• Weber, Donald C.
• Yang, Chin-Cheng Scotty
• Salom, Scott M.
• Leskey, Tracy C.

• Integrated Pest Management
• Behavioral Control
• Applied Agriculture

Statement dc:rights

• In Copyright

Licence dc:rights.uri

• http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/

Language dc:language.iso

en

Dc Identifier Other

vt_gsexam:47236

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:vtechworks.lib.vt.edu:10919/143215