Behavioral Responses of Lesser Mealworm Beetles, Alphitobius diaperinus, (Coleoptera: Tenebrionidae) to Pheromone Components Using a Wind Tunnel Dual Choice Walking Bioassay

The lesser mealworm beetle (LMW), Alphitobius diaperinus (Panzer), is a serious pest in poultry production facilities world-wide and is difficult to control by conventional means. Pheromone-based tools might become useful in the management of this species. Male LMW emit a five-component pheromone consisting of, (R)-(+)-limonene, (E)-beta-ocimene, (S)-(+)-linalool, (R)-(+)-daucene, and 2-nonanone. Three of the five components ((E)-beta-ocimene, (R)-(+)-daucene, and 2-nonanone) had shown behavioral activity, but it was not yet known if different blend combinations of the five components could modulate the beetle behavioral response. We developed a dual choice wind tunnel walking bioassay to test the attraction of male and female adult beetles to individual pheromone components and their blends. We tested hundreds of male and female adults at the same time to create a high throughput bioassay, which confirmed that only three compounds, (E)-beta-ocimene, (R)-(+)-daucene, and 2-nonanone, are necessary to exhibit the pheromone behavioral activity of the naturally emitted blend. Randomly roaming males and females responded by forming lines while walking up to a source of attractive odor.