Production of an Insect Sex Attractant by Symbiotic Bacteria

Abstract

MALES of the grass grub beetle Costelytra zealandica (White) (Coleoptera : Scarabaeidae), the principal insect pest of pastures in New Zealand, are attracted to an adhesive preparation¹ and to a resin² both of which seem to contain a chemical sex attractant. These materials contain small amounts of free phenol, which has been shown to be attractive to male beetles and seems to be the only attractant present in the resin. Furthermore, phenol may be the natural attractant of C. zealandica^3,4. Most studies of structures associated with the production of insect sex pheromones have been concerned with the Lepidoptera, and in spite of increasing interest in pheromones produced by the Coleoptera, little has been published. We have attempted to locate possible sites of pheromone production in the female grass grub beetle.