First report of an attractant for a tumbling flower beetle (Coleoptera: Mordellidae)

In 2004 and 2005, large numbers of the tumbling flower beetle, Falsomordellistena bihamata (Melsheimer), were found on traps baited with sweet birch oil, whereas significantly fewer individuals were found on control traps. In both years, peak captures were at 680 DD10 degrees C. Trapping was conducted in Naugatuck State Forest in Naugatuck, CT. Little is known about the ecology and biology of the tumbling flower beetles (Coleoptera: Mordellidae), and the larval food plant for this species is not known. Thus, we cannot say why the beetle is attracted to sweet birch oil. Sweet birch oil is approximately 99.8% methyl salicylate (MeSA). MeSA is found constitutively in large quantities in some plants, but it is also an important signal in, and product of, plant stress-response pathways. MeSA has been found to attract both herbivores that need stressed plants as food and natural enemies of herbivores in stressed plants. To our knowledge, this is the first report of mass trapping of a tumbling flower beetle. Fuller understanding of the phenomenon awaits further study.