ATTRACTION OF THE TWOLINED CHESTNUT BORER,AGRILUS BILINEATUS(WEBER) (COLEOPTERA: BUPRESTIDAE), AND ASSOCIATED BORERS TO VOLATILES OF STRESSED WHITE OAK

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Abstract
The twolined chestnut borer,Agrilus bilineatus(Weber) (Coleoptera: Buprestidae), is associated with mortality of stressed oaks in the eastern deciduous forests of North America. Beetles were attracted to stressed trees within hours of the onset of stress. We hypothesized that adult beetles rapidly locate suitable hosts by olfactory detection of tree-released volatiles. Trees with sticky-band traps and vane traps baited with crude steam distillates from inner bark of stressed white oaks, or with combinations of ethanol and oak volatiles, captured significantly more beetles than did water controls. Ethanol alone did not attract significant numbers ofA.bilineatus. Eighty-two percent of beetles captured were females. Ethanol-baited traps captured large numbers of Cerambycidae, Scolytidae, and a few Cleridae, and these insects were not attracted to oak volatiles. Sticky-band traps were more effective than vane traps in capturingA.bilineatusand other Buprestidae, but Cerambycidae and Scolytidae were more effectively captured in vane traps. Our results show thatA.bilineatusis attracted to oak volatiles but later successional beetles are attracted to ethanol.