Peter J. Landolt

Trapping spotted wing drosophila, Drosophila suzukii (Matsumura) (Diptera: Drosophilidae), with combinations of vinegar and wine, and acetic acid and ethanol

Recommendations for monitoring spotted wing drosophila (SWD) Drosophila suzukii (Matsumura) are to use either vinegar or wine as a bait for traps. Traps baited with vinegar and traps baited with wine, in field tests in northwest Oregon, captured large numbers of male and female SWD flies. Numbers of SWD trapped were significantly greater with a mixture of vinegar and wine compared with vinegar alone or wine alone. Attraction of SWD to vinegar and wine may be due in part to responses to acetic acid and ethanol evaporated from the two baits, respectively. Numbers of SWD captured in traps baited with 2% acetic acid in water were significantly greater than in unbaited traps, indicating a fly response to acetic acid. Very few flies were captured in traps baited with 10% ethanol in water. Traps baited with a combination of acetic acid and ethanol in water captured more SWD flies than traps baited with acetic acid or ethanol solutions alone. These results indicate a synergy of the two materials, and of the two chemicals, as lures for SWD. A comparison of a mixture of acetic acid with ethanol in water versus a mixture of vinegar with wine showed stronger fly attraction to the vinegar/wine mixture, indicating potential attractiveness of vinegar and wine volatiles in addition to acetic acid and ethanol.

Size-assortative mating, male choice and female choice in the curculionid beetle Diaprepes abbreviatus

In the beetle Diaprepes abbreviatus (L.) females are larger on average than males, as indicated by elytra length. Size-assortative matings were observed in wild populations in Florida and in laboratory mating experiments. We tested three mechanisms for this size-assortative mating: (1) mate availability; (2) mating constraints; and (3) mate choice. We found that mate choice influenced size-assortative mating by: (1) large and small males preferring to mate with large females; (2) large males successfully competing for large females, leaving small males to mate with small females; and (3) females accepting large males as mates more readily than small males. Males increased their reproductive success by mating with larger, more fecund females. They transferred protein to females during mating. Copyright 1999 The Association for the Study of Animal Behaviour.

Effects of host plant leaf damage on cabbage looper moth attraction and oviposition

Mated female Trichoplusia ni (Hubner) moths, when presented a choice of either undamaged cotton plants, Gossypium hirsutum L., or damaged plants (cut leaves or feeding T. ni larvae) in a flight tunnel, were most often attracted first to the damaged plants. However, these same moths oviposited primarily on the undamaged plants. In a similar test with cabbage plants, Brassica oleracea L., the presence of conspecific larvae decreased both attraction and oviposition. Cuts to cabbage leaves had no significant effect on attraction or oviposition. When presented one plant at a time, percentages of cabbage looper moths attracted were not affected by the presence of larvae on either cabbage or cotton plants, or by cuts to cabbage plant leaves. Percentages of moths attracted were, however, higher using cotton plants with cut leaves. The results suggest an important role for damage induced plant volatiles in host location as well as host acceptance by T. ni.

Identification and Field Evaluation of Fermentation Volatiles from Wine and Vinegar that Mediate Attraction of Spotted Wing Drosophila, Drosophila suzukii

Previous studies suggest that olfactory cues from damaged and fermented fruits play important roles in resource recognition of polyphagous spotted wing Drosophila flies (SWD), Drosophila suzukii (Matsumura) (Diptera: Drosophilidae). They are attracted to fermented sweet materials, such as decomposing fruits but also wines and vinegars, and to ubiquitous fermentation volatiles, such as acetic acid and ethanol. Gas chromatography coupled with electroantennographic detection (GC-EAD), gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS), two-choice laboratory bioassays, and field trapping experiments were used to identify volatile compounds from wine and vinegar that are involved in SWD attraction. In addition to acetic acid and ethanol, consistent EAD responses were obtained for 13 volatile wine compounds and seven volatile vinegar compounds, with all of the vinegar EAD-active compounds also present in wine. In a field trapping experiment, the 9-component vinegar blend and 15-component wine blend were similarly attractive when compared to an acetic acid plus ethanol mixture, but were not as attractive as the wine plus vinegar mixture. In two-choice laboratory bioassays, 7 EAD-active compounds (ethyl acetate, ethyl butyrate, ethyl lactate, 1-hexanol, isoamyl acetate, 2-methylbutyl acetate, and ethyl sorbate), when added singly to the mixture at the same concentrations tested in the field, decreased the attraction of SWD to the mixture of acetic acid and ethanol. The blends composed of the remaining EAD-active chemicals, an 8-component wine blend [acetic acid + ethanol + acetoin + grape butyrate + methionol + isoamyl lactate + 2-phenylethanol + diethyl succinate] and a 5-component vinegar blend [acetic acid + ethanol + acetoin + grape butyrate + 2-phenylethanol] were more attractive than the acetic acid plus ethanol mixture, and as attractive as the wine plus vinegar mixture in both laboratory assays and the field trapping experiment. These results indicate that these volatiles in wine and vinegar are crucial for SWD attraction to fermented materials on which they feed as adults.

A four-component synthetic attractant for Drosophila suzukii (Diptera: Drosophilidae) isolated from fermented bait headspace

BACKGROUND A mixture of wine and vinegar is more attractive than wine or vinegar to spotted wing drosophila, Drosophila suzukii (Matsumura) (Diptera: Drosophilidae), and ethanol and acetic acid are considered key to that attractiveness. In addition to ethanol and acetic acid, 13 other wine and vinegar volatiles are antennally active to D. suzukii and might be involved in food finding. RESULTS Out of the 13 antennally active chemicals, acetoin, ethyl lactate and methionol increased fly response to a mixture of acetic acid and ethanol in field trapping experiments. A five-component blend of acetic acid, ethanol, acetoin, ethyl lactate and methionol was as attractive as the starting mixture of wine and vinegar in field tests conducted in the states of Oregon and Mississippi. Subtracting ethyl lactate from the five-component blend did not reduce the captures of flies in the trap. However, subtracting any other compound from the blend significantly reduced the numbers of flies captured. CONCLUSION These results indicate that acetic acid, ethanol, acetoin and methionol are key olfactory cues for D. suzukii when attracted to wine and vinegar, which may be food-finding behavior leading flies to fermenting fruit in nature. It is anticipated that this four-component blend can be used as a highly attractive chemical lure for detection and management of D. suzukii. Published 2013. This article is a U.S. Government work and is in the public domain in the USA.

Positive interaction of a feeding attractant and a host kairomone for trapping the codling moth, Cydia pomonella (L.).

Codling moths are attracted to acetic acid and to ethyl-(E,Z)-2,4-decadienoate, the pear ester, when presented individually. The attraction to acetic acid is thought to be a food finding behavior, whereas the pear odorant, ethyl-(E,Z)-2,4-decadienoate, may be a host kairomone. We found, in a flight tunnel study, that more male and female codling moths were captured in traps when the compounds were presented together compared to tested separately. The combination of odorants provides a stronger lure for female codling moths than exists with pear ester alone and increases the potential for using lures in managing this pest of pome fruits and walnuts.

Sexual role reversal in mate-finding strategies of the cabbage looper moth

The mate-finding behavior of the cabbage looper moth Trichoplusia ni (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae) includes both female- and male-produced sex pheromones used in distinct mate-finding strategies. Both sexes release multicomponent pheromones attractive to the opposite sex. Male pheromone is comprised of d-linalool, m-cresol, and p-cresol released from abdominal hair pencils. Males exposed to host plant odor or to the female sex pheromone (Z)-7-dodecen-1-ol acetate are more attractive to females, suggesting stimulation of male pheromone release.

Apple Fruit Infested with Codling Moth are More Attractive to Neonate Codling Moth Larvae and Possess Increased Amounts of (E,E)-α-Farnesene

Apple fruit artificially infested with codling moth larvae attracted significantly more neonate larvae of the codling moth, Cydia pomonella than uninfested fruit. A greater number of larvae responded to odor in an olfactometer from codling moth-infested cold-stored Red Delicious thinning apples than uninfested apples. Immature Granny Smith, Red Delicious, or Golden Delicious apples that were infested on the tree for five days by codling moth larvae were more attractive to neonate codling moth larvae than similar but uninfested fruit of the same varieties. Apples infested on the tree and sampled five days later also contained significantly greater amounts of the larval attractant (E,E)-α-farnesene, compared to uninfested apples. Other types of injury to apple fruit did not produce results similar to that from codling moth infestation, either in increased attractiveness to codling moth larvae or in increased quantities of (E,E)-α-farnesene. These results are consistent with the reported attractiveness of (E,E)-α-farnesene to neonate codling moth larvae.

Analysis, synthesis, formulation, and field testing of three major components of male mediterranean fruit fly pheromone

Three major components, ethyi-(E)-3-octenoate, geranyl acetate, and (E,E)-α-farnesene, emitted as volatiles by laboratory-reared and wild male medflies were collected and analyzed qualitatively and quantitatively. Peak emission of these compounds occurred during the third to fifth hours of the photophase and differences were observed in the ratios of the three components emitted by male laboratory-reared and wild flies. These three compounds were synthesized, and a method was developed to formulate a synthetic blend that released the compounds in a ratio similar to that emitted by wild male medflies. Attractiveness of the blend to female medflies was demonstrated under field conditions by comparing trap catches. Black spherical traps, baited with the synthetic blend to release 1.6 male equivalents, caught significantly more females than blank traps and traps from which the blend released was 0.3, 3.2 or 6.4 male equivalents.

Attraction of the cabbage looper to host plants and host plant odor in the laboratory

In a laboratory flight tunnel, mated female, unmated female, and male adult cabbage loopers, Trichoplusia ni (Hübner), exhibited chemically mediated anemotaxis (attraction) in response to intact potted cabbage plants (Brassica oleracea L.), leading to contact with the plant. Similar attraction responses were also observed by mated females to potted soybean (Glycine max (L.)), tomato (Lycopersicon esculentum Miller), and celery (Apium graveolens L.) plants in noncompetitive comparisons. Mated females, unmated females, and males flew to cabbage plants throughout the scotophase. Response rates for mated females were higher than for unmated females and males. Mated female cabbage loopers were attracted by odors of cabbage, soybean, tomato, or celery piped into a flight tunnel from single plants held in glass jars and not to odors of the non‐host plant Setcreasea purpurea, or to humidified air. They were also attracted to water washings of cabbage at dosages of 0.4 to 2.0 gram equivalents, when presented on cotton dental wicks in the flight tunnel.