Sex Attractant Works Well

Press, Volume CIX, Issue 32164, 6 December 1969, Page 8

Sex Attractant Works Well

The attractant that research workers at Lincoln College discovered for male grass grub beetles in a commercial adhesive last season has continued to give very encouraging results during the latest season for beetle flights, which is now almost over.

A statement issued by the entomology department of the college, where the discovery was made, says a major advance made during the current season has been the further discovery that the insect attractant activity of the adhesive, called “Pliobond,” is concentrated in one of the ingredients used in its manufacture. To those Interested in the practical application of attractants in grass grub control, the department said, this discovery might be of considerable importance. The ingredient was a cheap commercial product It was very many times as attractive to young male grass grub beetles as “Pliobond” itsself.

Some spectacular results had been obtained in the preliminary field experiments,

which had been carried out to test the activity of the material. On November 19 when triala had been carried out in the Lincoln area in the presence of scientific staff of the Department of Scientific and Industrial Research and Department of Agriculture, two traps each baited with 10 milligrams of this ingredient of “PUobond" had attracted more than 5000 male beetles in about 15 minutes.

An important objective had been realised quite quickly in that this material appeared to be quite suitable for largescale field trails, which could start next year. A great deal of thought would need to be put into these trials which would have to be held in many situations with checks being made on populations both before and after the trials to see how

effective the attractant was in reducing populations. A particularly pleasing feature of the attractant material was its stability. One “application” or dose put. out was likely to be sufficient to last an entire beetle flight season.

At this stage the whole project is described as "most encouraging.” The accompanying photograph taken by Dr C. P. Hoyt, senior lecturer in entomology at the college, who with Dr G. Osborne, a senior research officer, has been a member of the team working on this development, shows one of the two traps used in the trial on November 19 full of beetles only 15 minutes after the attractant material in the bob tie in the holder at the top was exposed. At this stage even the bottle was full of beetles. The trap was a cake tin about nine inches in diameter containing water. The beetles made a bee-line for it when the attractant was exposed.

The beetles normally fly for only 20 minutes in an evening during the flight season and at the outside up to a half-hour.