A Japanese beetle by any other name may not smell roses

Popillia quadriguttata (Fabricius), and Protaetia brevitarsis (Lewis) adults were captured with Japanese beetle, Popillia japonica Newman 1841, sex attractant and floral lures at Changchun, China during July-August 2012. The floral lure (phenethyl propionate: eugenol: geraniol, 3:7:3) was attractive to male and female P. quadriguttata (AV: 1.2 +0.9; 1.1+0.3; Total: 2.3+0.8), and was similar in attraction to the combination of the sex attractant (SA) [(R, Z)-5-(1-decenyl) dihydro-2(3H)-furanone] plus the floral lure for male (1.60+0.2), female (1.30+1.1) and total captures (2.9+3.0). However, the SA alone captured only males in much higher numbers than when combined with the floral lure (10.0 +6.4). The floral lure also attracted female Pro. brevitarsis (10.0+3.4), while the SA attracted only few male beetles (1.0+0.2). The combination SA + floral lure captured similar females (11.0+2.0) and total (14.2+2.2) Pro. brevitarsis as the floral lure alone. These studies indicate a potential for using the Japanese beetle lures for monitoring and control of several insects in China, and that they would be useful in monitoring for two potential scarab pests, P. quadriguttata and Pro. brevitaris, in the United States.