Trapping Western Pine Beetles with Baited Toxic Trees

摘要

Baited toxic trap trees--trunks of living trees sprayed with an insecticide and then baited with an attractive substance--were tested in California to kill western pine beetles attacking ponderosa pine. The attractant was the triplet pheromone mixture of brevicomin, frontalin, and myrcene. Insecticides were lindane, Sevin, permethrin, and deltamethrin. All insecticides were effective at certain concentrations in killing beetles at the baited tree. Adjacent nonbaited trees were often attacked, but such trees were effectively protected with both preattack and postattack sprays. Numbers of beetles killed at active baited toxic trap trees for a full season varied widely between localities, years, and treatments.