Evidence of the Sex-Attractant Pheromone and Activity Rhythm in Phyllopertha diversa WATERHOUSE (Coleoptera : Scarabaeidae)

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Abstract
Behavior of the male pale brownish chafer, P. diversa, [a turf pest] was analyzed. In the laboratory, males were active in the daytime with the peak activity, as observed by actograph, between 0800 and 0830 h. In the field, the peak of their flight activity was observed between 1000 and 1100 h. Males were attracted to female-baited traps in the daytime and were also attracted to a female extract [FE], indicating the presence of a sex-attractant pheromone produced by females. Although all parts of a dissected female body attracted males in the field, the most attractive was the meso- and meta-thorax without wings. In laboratory bioassay of walking males in a glass tube, 1 .times. 10-2 FE extract elicited a response comparable to one live female.