Sex Pheromone of the Citrus Mealybug Planococcus citri: Synthesis and Optimization of Trap Parameters

Abstract

A simple synthesis of the pheromone of the citrus mealybug, Planococcus citri (Risso) (Hemiptera: Pseudococcidae), has been developed. Various factors affecting capture of males have been assessed to optimize the trap design and to develop a lure with high efficacy and longevity. Male capture was the same with the racemic and chiral pheromone; technical pheromone (85% purity) was statistically as attractive as pure pheromone (97%). A special formulation was used to determine the actual release rate of the pheromone under field conditions as related to male capture. Generally, plate traps caught more males than delta traps, and large traps caught more than small ones. The effects of aging on the performance of three types of rubber dispensers were evaluated. It was found that the American dispenser displayed the most consistent trapping performance and could be used for monitoring for at least 16 wk with a load of 200 microg of pheromone. The dose-response of the males to sex pheromone was tested within the range of 25-1,600 microg.

Pheromone-Baited Traps for Assessment of Seasonal Activity and Population Densities of Mealybug Species (Hemiptera: Pseudococcidae) in Nurseries Producing Ornamental Plants

“…2) suggested that this species might be slightly deterred by higher doses/release rates, with the initial release rate of the 25-g dose apparently causing some degree of inhibition. Overall, the effective lifetimes of P. viburni and P. longispinus lures were similar to those reported for male P. ficus, P. citri, and M. hirsutus (12 wk, 16 wk, and 5 mo, respectively) (Millar et al 2002, Zada et al 2004, Zhang and Amalin 2005. These long effective lifetimes of lures will lower costs for growers because lures will need to be changed only every 3Ð 4 mo, or approximately twice a growing season when these mealybug species are most active.…”

“…1). Trap catches leveled off as the dose increased, suggesting that male P. longispinus and P. viburni orient and ßy to a source once the pheromone surpasses a threshold concentration (Millar et al 2002, Zada et al 2004. Analogous doseÐresponse trends have been observed with other species such as P. citri and P. ficus (Hefetz and Tauber 1990, Millar et al 2002, Zada et al 2004.…”

“…Trap catches leveled off as the dose increased, suggesting that male P. longispinus and P. viburni orient and ßy to a source once the pheromone surpasses a threshold concentration (Millar et al 2002, Zada et al 2004. Analogous doseÐresponse trends have been observed with other species such as P. citri and P. ficus (Hefetz and Tauber 1990, Millar et al 2002, Zada et al 2004. However, another mealybug species, the pink hibiscus mealybug, Maconellicoccus hirsutus (Green), seems to be acutely sensitive to dose, with males being Data were log 10 (x ϩ 1) transformed to meet assumptions of normality and homogeneity of variances, and transformed values of the slope and intercept are presented (n ϭ 21 for each date).…”

Responses of Second-Instar Male Nymphs of Four Mealybug Species (Hemiptera: Pseudococcidae) to Conspecific and Heterospecific Female Sex Pheromones

“…The P. citri and P. ficus pheromones were prepared as suggested by Zada et al (2004) and by Zada et al (2003), respectively. The pheromone of P. cryptus was donated by Tomonori Arai (Department of Apple Research, NIFTS, Morioka, Japan), prepared as suggested by Nakahata et al (2003).…”

Uso de semioquímicos en el control de plagas. Estudios básicos y de aplicación

“…However, a pheromone critical release value for mass trapping has been obtained for a few species (Hallett et al, 1999;Zada et al, 2002;Zada et al, 2004;Cross et al, 2006). Different authors have reported that high levels of pheromone tend to confuse insects rather than attract them (Jacobson & Beroza, 1964;Zhang & Amalin, 2005).…”