New Attractant Lures for Sampling Conistra vaccinii L. Populations: Bisexual Lures and a Sex Attractant (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae)

TL;DR

Researchers identified a new sex attractant and two other lures for catching Conistra moths, which can help study their behavior and populations in forests.

Contribution

The discovery of (Z)-7-tetradecenyl acetate as a sex attractant and the effectiveness of two new lures for Conistra species.

Findings

(Z)-7-tetradecenyl acetate (Z7-14Ac) is a sex attractant for Conistra vaccinii, attracting only males.

Phenylacetaldehyde and iso-amyl alcohol lures attract both sexes and reflect species' food preferences.

Bisexual lures are useful for studying reproduction and population dynamics due to their ability to capture both male and female moths.

Abstract

Conistra species belonging to the owl moths (Noctuidae) are important members of the herbivorous insect assemblages of temperate forests. Here, we described (Z)-7-tetradecenyl acetate (Z7-14Ac) as a sex attractant of C. vaccinii. Additionally, the attractivity of phenylacetaldehyde-based synthetic and isoamyl alcohol-based semi-synthetic lures to different Conistra species was also proved, showing the different food source preferences of the species attracted. Using the new sex attractant, we can catch only males, while the other two lures attract both sexes. Depending on the goal of further studies, one or other of these new lures can serve as an appropriate tool for study on these widely distributed members of arboreal fauna.

The chemical ecology and host plant preferences of the different Conistra species (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae, Xylenini) are mostly unknown, even though they are essential components of the herbivorous assemblages of temperate zone forests. During field studies, (Z)-7-tetradecenyl acetate (Z7-14Ac) was identified as a sex attractant of Conistra vaccinii. Phenylacetaldehyde-based synthetic and iso-amyl alcohol-based semi-synthetic lures also attracted C. vaccinii, C. rubiginea, and C. rubiginosa, and in the case of C. vaccinii, they performed better than the newly identified sex attractant. The different efficiencies of the two bisexual lures probably reflected the different feeding source preferences of the species caught. The tested lures attracted both sexes and, thus, we can estimate the actual sex ratio. These traps can be used especially in applications where female samples are needed, i.e., surveys on the reproduction biology of moths (e.g., polyandry), or in surveys of population dynamics.

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