Abstract

BACKGROUND Movement of the red flour beetle, Tribolium castaneum (Herbst) (Coleoptera: Tenebrionidae), in stored products is mediated by food volatiles and other semiochemicals.RESULTS In two-way olfactometer assays, T. castaneum was more attracted to wheat bran previously infested with conspecifics than to uninfested bran. Chemical analysis showed that 1-pentadecene was present in the headspace of T. castaneum-infested wheat bran, but not detectable in the headspace of uninfested bran. An olfactometer was used to test the effect on T. castaneum behaviour of 1-pentadecene, and of volatiles from wheat bran with and without 1-pentadecene. The lowest concentration of 1-pentadecene exhibited an attractive effect, compared to the control (n-hexane). Slightly higher concentrations showed a neutral effect, while the highest concentrations repelled T. castaneum. Wheat bran with a low 1-pentadecene concentration was more attractive than wheat bran alone, whereas higher concentrations of 1-pentadecene were repellent.CONCLUSION The results provide important information on intraspecific, semiochemical-mediated behaviour in T. castaneum, which could potentially be used to develop new methods to monitor the flour beetles in stored products. (c) 2021 Society of Chemical Industry.

Keywords

Tribolium castaneum; food volatiles; semiochemicals; 1‐pentadecene; olfactometer; wheat bran

Published in

Pest Management Science
2021, volume: 77, number: 9, pages: 4034-4039
Publisher: JOHN WILEY & SONS LTD

Authors' information