Type of insect attractants
a. Food attractants:
- Ammonium carbonate – houseflies (91% attracted)
- Protein hydrolysate – fruit flies
- Anethol (oil) – cooling moth
- Isoamyl salisylate – tomato hornworm (Heliothes)
- Geraniol (9 part) + eugenol (1 part) – Japanese beetle
- Methyl-eugenol – oriental fruit flies
- Anisyl acetone – melon fruitflies (males)
- Siglure and midlure – Mediterranean fruit fly
- Metaldehyde – snails and slugs
- Cuelure – fruitfly (Dacus cucurbitae)
- Trimedlure – Mediterranean fruit fly (Ceranitis capitata)
- Eugenol and phenethyl propionate – Japanese (Papillio japonica)
- Ethyl 3 – isobutyl 1-2,2 demethyl cyclopropane – Rhinoceros
- Heptyl butyrate- yellow jacket (Vespula spp).
b. Sex Attractants:
- Sex attractants are the pheromones produced by one individual to excite or stimulate and attract the opposite sex for the purpose of mating.
- They are active at very low concentration and are highly specific to their species.
- It includes the following:
I. Sex Pheromone:
- A pheromone is a chemical or a mixture of chemicals released by an organism in the environment that cause specific reaction in a receiving organism of the same species.
- Chemicals regulating insect behavior are collectively called semiochemicals that include Pheromone, Allomone and Kairomone.
- Since pheromone is secreted outside the body; it was also called as ecto-pheromone.
ii. Alarm pheromone:
- These pheromones have been reported in Homoptera, Isoptera and hymenoptera.
- This pheromone warns member of same species about the presence of enemies (predators) and elicit changes in behavior in different insect species.
- The chemical substances acting as alarm pheromones are as follows:
- Tarpenes in aphids
- Aldehydes in helipterum
- Alkyl and alkenyl acetate in honey bee (sting gland)
- 2-heptanone in honey bee (mandibular gland)
- Ethylmethyl ketones and formic acid in ants
- Monotarpene in termite soldiers
iii. Trial pheromone:
- The trial pheromones functions through the medium of air in which it is released in form of continuous or intermittent lines and which the followers perceive by their antennae to reach the destination for mating or to utilize food source.
- The chemically active substance of some trial pheromones are:
- Caproic acid in Zootermopsis spp.
- 3,6,8-dodecatrienol in Reticulitermes spp.
- Hexanoic, heptanoc, decanoic nonanic acids in some ants
iv. Aggregation pheromones:
- These pheromones include aggregation of insects for their protection, reproducing and feeding.
- After mating, or continued feeding for some time pheromone production stops to prevent over crowing.
- These pheromones are known mostly in coleopteran, a pentatomid bug (Eurgdema regosa) and dictyopteran (Periplaneta americana). The best known example is the female bark beetle.
- Geranoil, genaoic acid necrolic acid in honeybee
- Sulcatol in scoty lid beetle
- Frontalin in bark beetle
- Insenol, periplanone in cockroach
- Dimethy 1 decanol in Tribolium
c. Oviposition attractants
- The natural substances that control the selection of sites by the adult female for oviposition are termed as oviposition lures.
- Dipteran flies oviposit in the vicinity of these chemicals, probably to provide food for their young on emergence because these compounds are products of decomposing organic matter and apparently represent a source of food to the insects.
- Some oviposition attractants are as followings.
- P-methy lacetopehenone – attracts rice stem borers to oviposit
- Protein-hydrolyzate-fruit files ready respond to it for food and oviposition.
- Corn extract – attracts corn earworm (Heliothis armigera)to oviposit.