In an effort to facilitate reintroduction efforts of the Federally endangered Nicrophorus americanus, a synthetic bait was developed to improve survey techniques. Chicken is the preferred bait for population surveys of Nicrophorus, including N. americanus. It is, however, an inconsistent bait and a more predictable bait would be preferred. Using headspace volatile collection, the volatiles released from 48 hour decomposed chicken were collected. These volatiles were run through a Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrophotometer to determine their identity. Wind-tunnel bioassays were performed using N. orbicollis and N. tomentosus to find the blend of chemicals that elicit a behavioral response most similar to rotten chicken. A blend of chemicals including dimethyl disulfide, dimethyl trisulfide, dimethyl tetrasufide, phenol, nonanol, and propanoic acid was found to elicit such a response. Wind-tunnel bioassays were performed with N. americanus to verify that its response corresponds to that of N. orbicollis and N. tomentosus.
Species 1: Coeloptera Siphidae Nicrophorus americanus (American burying beetle, burying beetles)
Species 2: Coleoptera Silphidae Nicrophorus orbicolis
Species 3: Coleoptera Silphidae Nicrophorus tomentosus
Keywords: chemical ecology, burying beetle
The ESA 2001 Annual Meeting - 2001: An Entomological Odyssey of ESA