Attraction of the Japanese pine sawyer, Monochamus alternatus, to volatiles from stressed host in China

Ovipositing female Japanese sawyer beetles, Monochamus alternatus, prefer stressed Pinus massoniana over healthy trees. Host discrimination by M. alternatus suggests that changes in the chemical composition of pines may mediate the host preference of beetles. Volatile compounds from stressed and healthy pine stems were collected using absorbent trap collection method. Significant differences in absolute terpene quantities between stressed and healthy pines occurred for 7 of 10 terpenes. Field trials demonstrated that four terpenes identified from host pines were attractive to M. alternatus with (+)-alpha-pinene as the most attractive compound to M. alternatus. Ethanol appeared to be an important synergistic compound causing significant increase in attraction.