Vittatalactone, the aggregation pheromone of the striped cucumber beetle, Acalymma vittatum (F.) (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae), is attractive to two species of squash bugs (Hemiptera: Coreidae), the squash bug Anasa tristis (DeGeer) and horned squash bug Anasa armigera (Say). In field trapping experiments in Maryland and Virginia, clear sticky traps baited with 1 mg of a synthetic 8-isomer mix of vittatalactone captured ~9× more of female A. tristis and of both sexes of A. armigera, whereas male A. tristis were not significantly attracted, compared to unbaited traps. A. armigera showed a distinct dose-response to vittatalactone lure loading in the late season, and this species was more attracted than A. tristis, based on comparison to captures from underneath wooden boards emplaced in adjacent fields. Results suggest that vittatalactone could be a 'keystone semiochemical' in colonization of cucurbit hosts by specialist herbivores, and may offer the opportunity for multi-species behavioral control as a component of integrated pest management in cucurbit crops.
Keywords: chemical ecology; eavesdropping; keystone semiochemical; monitoring.
Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of Entomological Society of America 2022.