Multicomponent attract-and-kill system for pest insects attacking cucurbit crops

Attract-and-kill is a behavioral control tactic for managing insect pests, which relies on semiochemicals to draw insects to a discrete location where they are killed or captured. We conducted a full factorial field experiment to evaluate the effect of 3 semiochemical components in an attract-and-kill approach for management of stiped cucumber beetle, Acalymma vittatum (F.) (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae). We found that the synthetic aggregation pheromone (vittatalactone) and stimuli associated with host plants (sweet watermelon juice, bitter cucurbitacin-E-glycoside) were all critical components for both spring and fall attract-and-kill deployments for A. vittatum and a related species, spotted cucumber beetle, Diabrotica undecimpunctata Mannerheim (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae). We also evaluated methods of dispatching pest aggregations, finding that ground-positioned boll weevil traps captured a significantly smaller proportion of A. vittatum than clear sticky traps or 2 variations of our bait station that killed or captured 60% to 85% of beetles in caged bioassays. We also investigated potential vicinity effects around these trap and bait station designs at 3 commercial farms, finding more A. vitattum on plants neighboring boll weevil traps (<0.5 m from lures) than control plants (>5 m from lures). This pilot attract-and-kill system, while promising, could benefit from modification in attractants and trap or bait design for cost reduction and improved efficacy, and attention to timing and positioning, to avoid undesirable competition from the crop to be protected.