MCOL, frontalin, and ethanol: A potential operational trap lure for Douglas-fir beetle in British Columbia
Abstract
The Douglas-fir beetle, Dedroctonus pseudotsugae (Coleoptera: Curculionidae) is a major pest of Douglas-fire, Pseudotsuga menziesii (Mirb.) in British Columbia (Humphreys 1995). An operational trap lure for D. pseudotsugae could be useful in an integrated pest management program to minimize mortality of Douglas-fir, particularly in conjunction with anti-aggregation pheromones (Lindgren et al. 1988; Ross and Daterman 1995a). The principal pheromone of D. pseudotsugae is frontalin (1,5- dimethyl-6,8-dioxyabicyclo [3.2.1] octane), which is produced by male and female beetles and attracts both sexes of beetles (Pitman and Vité 1970; Kinzer et al. 1971; Rudinsky et al. 1976). In British Columbia, D. pseudotsugae prefer multiple-funnel traps baited with racemic frontalin (50:50 mix of the two enantiomers) or (S)-(–)-frontalin equally over those baited with (R)-(+)-frontalin (Lindgren 1992).