Ethylene release under field conditions for the management of the olive bark beetle, Phloeotribus scarabaeoides

摘要

abstract_textpThe need to develop new methods for the management of Phloeotribus scarabaeoides (Bernard) (Coleoptera: Scolytidae), an important olive pest, has led to the optimization of an ethylene dispenser that can be used to attract the adult beetles to specific olive logs and trees in the held. The dispenser combines the use of ethrel(R), a formulation that releases ethylene, and a piece of olive log, and has proven effective in laboratory experiments. Spraying olive logs with ethrel was the most effective treatment to attract beetles. When logs were sprayed with the insecticide cypermethrin, alone or in combination with ethrel, no colonization occurred. In olive trees, the efficacy of the dispensers for attracting adult beetles was similar to that of spraying trees with ethrel. Consequently, the dispensers can be used, avoiding the undesirable side effects observed when ethrel is directly applied to living trees./p/abstract_text