SCIENTIFIC NOTE Evaluation of the antiaggregation pheromone, 3-methylcyclohex-2-en-l-one (MCH), to protect live spruce from spruce beetle (Coleoptera: Scolytidae) infestation in southern Utah

摘要

The spruce beetle, Dendroctonus rufipennis (Kirby), produces the antiaggregation pheromone 3-methylcyclohex-2-en-l-one (MCH) (Rudinsky et al. 1974). MCH has reduced the numbers of spruce beetles attracted to infested logs and synthetic semiochemical lures or reduced colonization rates throughout the beetles range (Kline et al. 1974, Rudinsky et al. 1974, Furniss et al 1976, Dyer and Hall 1977, Lindgren et al. 1989). MCH has not prevented the infestation of live trees (Werner and Holsten 1995), with one exception. MCH in a novel formulation incorporating a microinfusion pump prevented the infestation of live spruce in Alaska in an area with a low spruce beetle population (Holsten et al 2003). The objective of this study was to test MCH using commercially available diffusion releasers for protecting live trees from spruce beetle infestation in an area with a high spruce beetle population in southern Utah.