Abstract

BRATOVICH, Celina; SALUSO, Adriana; MURUA, María G  and  GUERENSTEIN, Pablo G.. Evaluation of sex pheromone formulations to attract Spodoptera frugiperda (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae) adult males in Argentina. Rev. Soc. Entomol. Argent. [online]. 2019, vol.78, n.3, pp.1-10. ISSN 0373-5680.  http://dx.doi.org/https://doi.org/10.25085/rsea.780302.

Spodoptera frugiperda (Smith) is the most important pest of corn in Argentina. Its monitoring in the Americas is carried out by traps lured with a synthetic version of its female sex pheromone. Such monitoring has variable success mainly because the composition of the sex pheromone of populations from distant geographical areas is different, and a synthetic lure has not been developed for each area. The composition of the sex pheromone of the populations found in Argentina is not known. The objective of this work was to test one commercial (Hercon lure) and three experimental formulations (from the manufacturer ChemTica) of the pheromone to establish if any of those formulations is better than the one currently used in the country (i.e. , the commercial ChemTica lure). Attraction to the synthetic pheromones was tested in a wind tunnel using males from different regions of Argentina. In addition, feld tests were carried out in two distant regions of the country. One of the experimental formulations from ChemTica and the commercial formulation from Hercon evoked the highest attraction in wind tunnel tests. In feld tests, only the Hercon lure captured a significant number of males. Although lures evoking higher attraction than the commercial ChemTica lure were found, attraction and capture, even with those lures, did not reach high values.

Keywords : Crop pest. Monitoring. Odor lure. Pest management. Wind tunnel.

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