Attractiveness of an Aggregation Pheromone Lure and Chicken Droppings to Adults and Larvae of Alphitobius diaperinus (Coleoptera: Tenebrionidae)

Singh, N.; Johnson, D. T.

Adults. The pheromone lure was signiÞcantly attractive in the moderate lesser mealworm population house ( Table 2 ). The statistical analysis revealed the signiÞcant effect of pheromone on total trap catch (F ϭ 83.40; df ϭ 1, 126; P ϭ 0.0001). Overall, the pheromone-baited traps caught 3.3-fold more adults than untreated controls. Captures decreased Ϸ10fold after the chicks were introduced (days 1 and 2 vs. day 3). Nevertheless, the factor difference between the pheromone and control was stable among the days (treatment-by-day interaction was not sig-niÞcant) (F ϭ 0.84; df ϭ 2, 126; P ϭ 0.43). The signiÞcant interaction between blocks and days suggested that the population distribution changed over time (F ϭ 5.25; df ϭ 6, 126; P ϭ 0.0001). Importantly, though, no interactions involving blocks and treatments were signiÞcant, indicating a consistent pheromone effect over space (F ϭ 1.25; df ϭ 3, 126; P ϭ 0.30).