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Manuka oil and phoebe oil are attractive baits for xyleborus glabratus (coleoptera: scolytinae), the vector of Laurel Wilt

Informally Refereed

Abstract

Redbay ambrosia beetle, Xyleborus glabratus Eichhoff, is a native of Southeast Asia recently established in coastal forests of Georgia, SC and Florida It vectors a wilt fungus, Raffaeka sp., lethal to redbay trees, Persea borbonia L. Spreng, and certain other Lauraceae. No practical monitoring system exists for this beetle so we conducted studies to identify host attractants and develop lures. Volatiles were collected from redbay wood and bark by steam distillation, direct solvent extraction, and dynamic headspace sampling with a Poropak Q cartridge. Steam, methanol, and pentane extracts were tested as baits in trapping trials but were not attractive to X. glabratus. Major constituents in Poropak aerations identified by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry included a-pinene, P-pinene, S3-carene, eucalyptol, p-cymene, a-copaene, terpinene-401, linalool, calmenene, and nonanoic acid. We assayed several of these compounds (including eucalyptol, p-cymene, terpinene-4-01, linalool, nonanoic acid, and caryophyllene oxide) both individually and in combination, but none were attractive at tested doses. Two other redbay odor components, a-copaene and calamenene, were unavailable in sufficient quantities commercially so we substituted manuka oil, the essential oil extracted from Leptospermum swparium Forst. and Forst., which contains high proportions of both compounds. Manuka oil was equally attractive as redbay wood to X. glubratus, but increasing release rates >lo-fold did not enhance its activity. Phoebe oil, an extract of Brazilian walnut (Phoebe porosa Mez.), which contains significant quantities of a-copaene and calamenene, was also attractive. Fractions of manuka oil were not more attractive than the whole oil. Manuka and phoebe oil are readily available and are good alternatives to redbay wood as a trap bait for monitoring X. glubratus distribution and population trends.

Citation

Hanula, James L.; Sullivan, Brian. 2008. Manuka oil and phoebe oil are attractive baits for xyleborus glabratus (coleoptera: scolytinae), the vector of Laurel Wilt. Environmental Entomology, Vol. 37(6): 1403-1409
https://www.fs.usda.gov/research/treesearch/31876