Field Evaluation of Synthetic Components of the Sex Pheromone of the Tea Pest Helopeltis cinchonae Mann (Hemiptera: Miridae)

<i>Helopeltis cinchonae</i> is an emerging pest of tea and causes severe damage to tea plantations in China. The female of <i>H. cinchonae</i> has been reported to produce a sex pheromone consisting of two components, hexyl (3<i>R</i>)-3-acetoxybutyrate and (5<i>R</i>)-1-acetoxy-5-butyroxyhexane, and lures containing the synthetic compounds have been shown to attract male <i>H. cinchonae</i> to traps in the field. This is the first time that components of the sex pheromone have been identified for a species of <i>Helopeltis</i> bug, but their field application has not been evaluated in detail. The present study shows that a blend of both compounds loaded into a polyethylene vial at 0.2 and 2 mg, respectively, caught significantly more male <i>H. cinchonae</i> bugs than the individual compounds and all the other tested blends. Sticky wing traps baited with the binary blend of compounds at the optimized ratio and dosage caught more bugs than bucket funnel or delta traps, and traps hung at a height of 10 cm above the tea shoots caught more bugs than those at other heights. The optimized traps and lures were used for monitoring the pest and two distinct population peaks of <i>H. cinchonae</i> were observed, the first one during mid-May to early June, and the other one in mid-September. Overall, the results of this study contribute to an environmentally-friendly approach to monitoring and managing <i>H. cinchonae</i> in the field.