An improved female-targeted semiochemical lure for the European corn borer Ostrinia nubilalis Hbn.

The addition of synthetic 4-methoxy-2-phenethyl alcohol to the known attractant phenylacetaldehyde synergized attraction of the European corn borer Ostrinia nubilalis, the blend invariably catching 3 to 5 times more than phenylacetaldehyde on its own. Highest catches were recorded by the 1:1 blend. Both females and males were attracted, supposedly in the natural sex ratio of the local population. This improved bisex O. nubilalis attractant could be more efficient and more suitable for detection and monitoring purposes than previously know lures, making possible to draw more reliable plant protection decisions

European corn borer (Ostrinia nubilalis Hbn., Lepidoptera: Crambidae): comparing the performance of a new bisexual lure with that of synthetic sex pheromone in five countries

PubMedID: 28626945BACKGROUND: Phenylacetaldehyde is a flower volatile and attractant for among others the European corn borer Ostrinia nubilalis. The addition of 4-methoxyphenethyl alcohol has recently been reported to increase O. nubilalis catches four to five times, yielding a bisexual lure for the species. RESULTS: The bisexual lure significantly outperformed synthetic pheromone lures of O. nubilalis at 11 out of 13 experiments conducted in Bulgaria, Hungary, Italy, Slovenia and Turkey. CONCLUSION: The bisexual lure will provide growers with a new and efficient method for detection and monitoring of O. nubilalis. © 2017 Society of Chemical Industry. © 2017 Society of Chemical IndustryBritish Antarctic Survey LIFE13 ENV/HU/001092, ANIDIV-2This work was supported in part by funding from INSECTLIFE Innovative Real-time Monitoring and Pest Control for Insects (LIFE13 ENV/HU/001092) to TM and ANIDIV-2 project (BAS, Bulgaria) to TT. Helpful suggestions to improve the manuscript were made by G. Szo¨ cs