Sex pheromones of Stenotus rubrovittatus and Trigonotylus caelestialium, two mirid bugs causing pecky rice, and their application to insect monitoring in Japan

Abstract

Two mirid bugs, Stenotus rubrovittatus and Trigonotylus caelestialium (Heteroptera: Miridae), are important pests that infest rice crops in many regions of Japan. Males of each species were attracted to traps baited with conspecific, unmated females. Hexyl butyrate, (E)-2-hexenyl butyrate, and (E)-4-oxo-2-hexenal were identified as possible female-produced sex pheromone components for S. rubrovittatus, whereas hexyl hexanoate, (E)-2-hexenyl hexanoate, and octyl butyrate were found to be sex pheromone components for T. caelestialium. Pheromone doses and ratios were optimized for attraction of males of each species. Sticky traps set up close to or below the top of the plant canopy were optimal for monitoring these species, and trap catches were almost constant when traps were placed 7 or more meters in from the edge of a paddy field. Mixed lures, in which the six compounds from both species were loaded onto a single septum, or separate lures for each species, deployed in a single trap, were equally effective for monitoring both species simultaneously. Copyright © 2012 Tetsuya Yasuda and Hiroya Higuchi.