The sugar beet root maggot fly, Tetanops myopaeformis(von Röeder), is a major pest of sugar beets in the United States and Canada. Previous field experiments have shown the fly to be attracted to factory diffuser beet juice (FDBJ). Four neurophysiologically active compounds for the fly have been identified from the FDBJ using a gas chromatograph-electroantennogram detector and gas chromatograph-mass spectroscopy. These volatile compounds were tested in field trials using fly traps in a blend in three different concentrations in a sugar beet field and a wheat field that had been planted with sugar beets the previous year. This blend of volatiles was shown to be attractive at two of the concentrations when tested in the wheat field. However, the response was not strong, so a search was made for other neurophysiologically active compounds that can be used in future field experiments to test for attraction. Electroantennograms were recorded for the fly to volatile compounds identified from the FDBJ and the sugar beet leaves. The fly has a response to volatile compounds from both the FDBJ and the plant leaves. The information from this research will be used to aid the development of an attract and kill management method for the sugar beet root maggot fly.
Species 1: Diptera Otitidae Tetanops myopaeformis (sugarbeet root maggot)
Keywords: electroantennogram
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