Sex Attractant Pheromone of the Common Cutworm Moth Agrotis fucosa BUTLER : Field Evaluation

Abstract

Field experiments showed that 1:99 to 10:90 mixture of (Z)-5-decenyl acetate and (Z)-7-decenyl acetate was the most suitable combination as a lure to catch the male common cutworm moth, A. fucosa Butler, at 0.17-0.5 mg/rubber septum. Traps baited with the 10:90 mixture at 0.5 mg/septum (standard lure) caught 2.5-4.6 times more males than the virgin female traps (five 4-5-day-old females) for .apprx. 1 mo. This formulation is useful as a lure for monitoring a population in the field. Maximum attractant activity of the mixture at natural ratio (68:32) was obtained at 0.0016-0.0075 mg/septum, but it was 42-95% of that of the standard lure. With (Z)-5-decenyl acetate alone, the maximum catches were obtained at 0.005 mg/septum but were 54% of those with the standard lure. (Z)-7-Decenyl acetate attracted no male moth at any amount by itself. The attractive effect of (Z)-5-decenyl acetate at 0.005 mg/septum was significantly increased with the addition of (Z)-7-decenyl acetate at 0.05-0.5 mg/septum. This is the 1st instance of the synthetic admixture of 2 component sex pheromone giving the maximum attraction at a ratio (1:99-10:90) which differs from the natural ratio (68:32).