A Chemical Lure for Trapping Both Sexes of Amata phegea L.

SIMPLE SUMMARY: The development of feeding attractant lures is an actual topic of pest management studies. Compounds present in different flower scents can synergize with each other providing new mixtures appropriate for detecting and monitoring lepidopterans, not only in pests but also in faunistical and ecological studies. The synergizing effect of eugenol and benzyl acetate for phenylacetaldehyde was known for some species of Noctuidae and Pyralidae but in the case of Erebidae, Amata phagea is the first species for which it is shown. The lure attracted both sexes and may serve as the basis for further chemo ecological and even ecological studies of the species. Additionally, our data help to reveal the whole effect range of the studied compounds. ABSTRACT: The addition of synthetic eugenol and benzyl acetate to the known floral chemical and moth attractant phenylacetaldehyde synergized the attraction of Amata phegea (Lepidoptera: Amatidae). Traps baited with the ternary blend caught ca. four times more A. phegea moths than traps baited with phenylacetaldehyde alone. Both female and male moths were attracted; in a preliminary test, the female numbers caught were almost double compared to the males. Most A. phegea were caught when the blend was formulated in a dispenser with medium release rates. Traps baited with the ternary lure in polyethylene bag dispensers detected a single well-pronounced peak in seasonal trapping, suggesting that this multicomponent bisexual lure could be efficient enough to be applied to the detection and monitoring of female and male A. phegea.