Communication disruption using synthetic sex pheromone for control of sugarcane wireworm. Melanotus okinawensis Ohira (Coleoptera: Elateridae)

We tested communication disruption through the use of a synthetic sex pheromone from mid February to early June 2001 at the cultivating land on Minami-Daito Island in order to control the sugarcane wireworm Melanotus okinawensis Ohira (Coleoptera: Elateridae). Although very few males were caught in monitoring traps except a few traps set in a treated area, a large number were caught in traps set in an untreated Japanese pampas grass field. This indicates that communication disruption was effective throughout the period in the treated area. Females collected from treated area of Minami-Daito Island, mating rates that were lower than those of females in the untreated areas on Miyagi Island. We therefore concluded that a communication disruption system is an effective tool for the sugarcane wireworm management. (author)