Using a Generic Blend of Pheromones to Simultaneously Attract a Diversity of Elaterid Beetle Species Native to Eastern North America

ABSTRACT Recent research has indicated that females of most elaterid species produce sex pheromones that attract males, and pheromones and sex attractants have been identified for multiple species. We assessed attraction of nine elaterid species to a “generic” pheromone blend containing their eight known pheromones or sex attractants, versus the individual components of the blend. The blend targeted seven species in the subfamily Elaterinae, including Agriotes insanus Candèze (attractant geranyl butyrate), Elater abruptus Say (5‐methylhexyl [ Z ]‐4‐decenoate), Melanotus cribriventris Blatchley (tetradecyl acetate), Melanotus ignobilis Melsheimer (11‐dodecenyl butyrate), Melanotus sagittarius (LeConte) ([ E ]‐13‐hexadecenyl acetate), Melanotus similis (Kirby) (butyl [ Z ]‐5‐dodecenoate), and Parallelostethus attenuatus (Say) (1,8‐octanediol dihexanoate), and two species in the subfamily Dendrometrinae, the congeners Gambrinus griseus (Palisot de Beauvois) and Gambrinus rudis Brown (both attracted by limoniic acid). Of these nine species, all but A. insanus were captured in numbers sufficient for statistical analysis. The eight remaining species were attracted to traps baited with their specific attractants, as expected. Half of the species were equally attracted to the blend, including G. griseus , G. rudis , M. similis , and P. attenuatus . Among the four remaining species, males of E. abruptus were more strongly attracted to the attractant 5‐methylhexyl ( Z )‐4‐decenoate, and males of M. ignobilis to 11‐dodecenyl butyrate, than either were to the blend, but the blend nevertheless attracted significant numbers of both species. The blend attracted few M. cribriventris , suggesting one or more of the components strongly inhibited responses to its attractant. These findings suggest that blends of attractants can be used to effectively monitor multiple species of elaterids simultaneously, but new blends should first be tested versus the individual attractants in the field to check for inhibitory effects.