Chemical ecology and management of lesser mealworm Alphitobius diaperinus (Panzer) (Coleoptera: Tenebrionidae)

The chemical cues by which lesser mealworm beetles find each other is among the least understood aspects of the beetle’s chemical ecology. Five male-specific volatile compounds were emitted and collected from SuperQ traps, then identified and characterized by gas chromatography/ mass spectrometry. The pheromone blend was attractive to adults of both sexes in laboratory bioassays as well as in poultry houses with low and higher levels of beetle infestations using a newly designed trap device. Baseline responses of lesser mealworm to neonicitinoids, insect growth regulators, carbamates, and organophosphates were also determined by laboratory bioassays.