Discovery and Field Evaluation of Sex Pheromone Components for the Click Beetle Melanotus verberans (LeConte) (Coleoptera: Elateridae).

ABSTRACT: Wireworms, the larval stage of elaterid beetles, are among the most serious soil-borne insect pests in the world. Wireworms feed on a variety of key crops, including small grains, maize, vegetables, fruits, sugar cane, sugar beets, potatoes, and sweet potatoes. Management of these pests is becoming increasingly problematic, in part due to knowledge gaps in their basic biology, which hinders development of effective crop protection strategies. In particular, little is known about the semiochemicals that mediate the reproductive behavior of these pests. Research over the past two decades has begun to fill this need, with: (1) the discovery of sex attractants for several key pest species, and (2) subsequent studies toward development of semiochemically-based pest management approaches. We use

SUBMITTER: Williams Iii L 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11799071 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature