engleski

Olfactory response of pollen beetle to essential oils

The development of resistance of the pollen beetle, as the economically most important rapeseed pest, to insecticides as well as the loss of active substances due to legal regulations is a constant problem for producers. New alternative non-chemical methods are needed for successful control of this pest. According to literature, few essential oils have repellent effect on the site behavior of pollen beetle host plants. In this study, six essential oils (Lanavdula anugstifolia, Mentha arvensis, Eucalyptus globulus, Citrus limon, Pimpinella anisum and Ocimum basilicum) were compared using a six-channel olfactometer and the tests were adopted and conducted according to Daniel (2014). The essential oils were diluted 1:10 in acetone and 40 µl was applied to a 4 cm2 filter paper placed in a plastic cups. One control was filter paper treated with acetone only and another with no odor. Ten adult pollen beetles, previously starved for 48 h, were placed in the olfactometer arena in the center of the 1 cm diameter circle. Three replicates were performed per treatment. The choice of each individual that crossed the line of the circle towards the odor within 90 seconds was recorded. Beetles that did not cross the line of the circle were excluded from the analysis. The highest repellency response was recorded for the essential oils of E. globulus and O. basilicum. Majority of the adult pollen beetles were attracted to P. anisum and O. basilicum. The results indicated that the repellency of essential oils could be combined with trap crop plants in the development of new strategies for pollen beetle control.

pollen beetle, resistance, essential oils

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