Identification of food volatiles attractive to dusky sap beetle,Carpophilus lugubris (Coleoptera: Nitidulidae)

The chemical mediation of host-finding was investigated for the dusky sap beetle,Carpophilus lugubris Murray. GC-MS analysis of the headspace volatiles above whole-wheat bread dough inoculated with baker's yeast, a substrate previously determined to be an effective attractant, revealed seven major components in the following order of decreasing concentration: ethanol, acetaldehyde, 2-methylpropanol, 3-methylbutanol, propanol, 2-methylbutanol, and ethyl acetate. Solutions of these seven compounds blended so as to mimic the odor of whole-wheat bread dough elicited upwind orientation from 1.8 m in a wind tunnel byC. lugubris at a level comparable to that elicited by the bread dough. A series of bioassays investigating the role of individual components from the synthetic blend determined that all seven compounds contributed to behavioral activity; however, the simplest blend evoking attraction comparable to bread dough included acetaldehyde, ethyl acetate, 2-methylpropanol, and 3-methylbutanol. Of these compounds, acetaldehyde was essential, ethyl acetate was interchangeable with ethanol or partially replaceable with propanol, and 2-methylpropanol and 3-methylbutanol were partially replaceable with a combination of the other alcohols. Headspace volatiles above aseptic or fungus-inoculated tomato, banana, sweet corn, and strawberry were also qualitatively and quantitatively analyzed. This study suggests thatC. lugubris locates its food sources by response to variable blends of common volatile constituents of plants and fungi.