Sex pheromone communication in the apple leafcurling midge ( Dasyneura Mali)

Abstract

The use of a pheromone for sexual communication by the apple leafcurling midge (ALCM) was demonstrated in field and laboratory tests. In field tests, traps baited with virgin ALCM females caught large numbers of ALCM males. Empty traps and traps baited with ALCM males caught no males. When flight responses of male ALCM to various odour sources were tested in a wind tunnel, males flew upwind and landed on cages that contained virgin ALCM females and on filter papers treated with a pentane extract of virgin ALCM females. Males did not fly upwind to mated ALCM females, odours released by apple foliage, filler papers treated with pentane, or pear leafcurling virgin females. Male ALCM that emerged between the hours of 7:00 and 9:00 a.m. responded to pentane extracts of virgin ALCM throughout the day of their emergence.