Abstract
Sympatric populations of southern (Cyclocephala immaculata Olivier) and northern (C. borealis Arrow) (Coleoptera: Scarabeidae) masked chafers were studied in relation to flight activity, mating behavior, and sex attraction. Flight and mating of C. immaculata begins at dusk and terminates about 2 hours later, while peak activity of C. borealis occurs between midnight and 4:00 a.m. Trapping experiments indicated that both C. immaculata and C. borealis females produce a potent volatile sex pheromone which is attractive to males of either species. Previous mating reduced but did not entirely suppress female attractiveness. Female rinses in cyclohexane and ether were effective baits for luring males to traps. Although the 2 species apparently utilize a common airborne sex attractant, they remain temporally reproductively isolated.

This publication has 1 reference indexed in Scilit: