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Article: Microbes Produce Sap Beetle Attractants.(synthesized aggregation pheromones)
- Article from:
- Agricultural Research
- Article date:
- April 1, 1999
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 1999 U.S. Government Printing Office. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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Fooling the pineapple beetle hasn't been easy, but Agricultural Research Service scientists have finally begun to trick this pesky sap beetle--with chemical scents.
The research may lead to commercially synthesized "airborne calling cards" that will sucker sap beetles in the Nitidulidae family into field and warehouse traps. By monitoring these traps, growers and shippers will know whether they need to apply pesticides.
Besides munching on pineapple, Carpophilus humeralis eats dates, citrus, and sugarcane. Ordinarily, when a male nitidulid beetle gets a whiff of a favorite fermenting food, he makes his own chemical attractants to call males and females ...