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10-Minute Presentation

Plant-Insect Ecosystems

10-min: P-IE, Behavior and Chemical Ecology

Discovery and field evaluation of sex pheromone components for Melanotus verberans (LeConte) (Coleoptera: Elateridae)

Sunday, November 9, 2025
2:30 PM - 2:42 PM Pacific
Location: Oregon Convention Center, E145, OCC
Oral Presentation
Melanotus verberans (LeConte), is an important crop pest in much of the central and eastern USA, where it attacks corn, small grains, sugarcane, and tuber, root, and vegetable crops. In an effort to increase opportunities for pest control, we conducted a study to identify the sex pheromone of this species by analysis of extracts with coupled gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS), gas chromatography with electroantennographic detection (GC-EAD), and a 2-year field evaluation of synthesized candidate lures using insect traps. GC-MS analysis of the volatiles from extracted genitalia of female beetles gave several pheromone candidates, including 13-tetradecenyl acetate, tetradecyl acetate, and other unsaturated compounds. In GC-EAD trials, several of these compounds elicited responses from antennae of male M. verberans. Trap captures from the blend of all pheromone candidates in the natural ratio extracted from females were compared to captures from subtractive mixtures to identify the behaviorally active compound(s). The identification of a highly attractive sex pheromone for M. verberans will facilitate new strategies for monitoring and management of this pest.