Glenn T. Pearce

Chemical attractants for the smaller European elm bark beetle Scolytus multistriatus (Coleoptera: Scolytidae).

The secondary attractant for the smaller European elm bark beetleScolytus multistriatus is a mixture of three compounds: (-)4-methyl-3-heptanol(I); 2,4-dimethyl-5-ethyl-6,8-dioxabicyclo(3.2.1) octane (II); and (−)α-cubebene (III). The novel structure assigned to compound II was confirmed by synthesis. All three compounds were isolated from the volatile compounds collected on Porapak Q by aerating elm bolts infested with virgin female beetles. The GLC fractionations were monitored by two laboratory bioassays. Individually, each compound was inactive in the laboratory bioassays, but a mixture of all three showed activity nearly equivalent to that of the of the original Porapak extract. A mixture of synthetic I and II plus natural III (from cubeb oil) was highly attractive to beetles in preliminary field tests.

Porapak-Q collection of airborne organic compounds serving as models for insect pheromones

Organic compounds with properties resembling those of insect pheromones can be removed from an airstream by absorption on Porapak Q and recovered from the absorbent by extraction. When this procedure is applied to aeration of live insects, the Porapak extract represents a concentration of the chemical message.

Collection on Porapak Q of the aggregation pheromone ofScolytus multistriatus (Coleoptera: Scolytidae)

The attractive volatiles in the air around the virgin female of the smaller European elm bark beetle,Scolytus multistriatus (Marsham), tunneling in elm logs can be collected by passing the air through a column of Porapak Q. These volatiles can be removed from the Porapak by Soxhlet extraction with hexane, yielding an extract that is attractive to in-flight beetles in the field. GLC analyses of this extract and an extract of virgin female frass indicate that the aeration extract contains active chemicals that are not in the extract of frass.