Response of mated insects of both sexes of granary weevil to blends of volatiles - short communication

Abstract

We report the behavioural responses of mated granary weevils to blends of cereal volatiles. Four doses were applied on filter paper (1, 10, 100, and 1000 ng/min in 50 µl of hexane applied on filter paper). A Y-tube experiment revealed that mated females of Sitophilus granarius were attracted to blend 1, 4, and 5 at concentrations of 1000, 100, 1, and 10 ng/min, respectively. Mated males were attracted only to blend 5 at a concentration of 10 ng/minute. Yet, the mated weevil females and males were repelled by the highest concentration (1000 ng/min) for all tested blends. Moreover, both mated sexes were repelled by 100 ng/min in blends 2, 3, 5, and 6. Additionally, females were repelled by 10 ng/min in blend 6. We claim that the blend of volatiles and their concentration can induce the insect behaviour.

Keywords

• ereal insects
• cereal volatiles
• attractants
• repellents