male emergence occurs 1 to 2 weeks before 

 peak female emergence. 



The red oak borer is a prime candidate for 

 booby-trapping because adults occur only in 

 odd-numbered years. Adult activity lasts only 

 about 6 weeks and average populations are 

 12 to 24 beetles per acre. Also, the adults are 

 large and easily handled for affixing booby- 

 traps. 



This paper reports on preliminary studies 

 with female beetles carrying insecticide- 

 treated booby-traps. 



MATERIALS AND METHODS 



The red oak borers used in this study were 

 artificially reared (Galford 1974). The locust 

 borers were collected in late September from 

 goldenrod flowers, Solidago spp.,. Female bee- 

 tles were cooled in a refrigerator to facilitate 

 their handling. Small pieces of cotton wadding 

 were cut to fit inside small aluminum com- 

 bustion boats (#29-410, Coleman Instru- 

 ments Corp. Maywood, IL). 1 The cotton was 

 glued inside the boats with contact cement. 

 Next, the bottoms of the boats were dipped in 

 contact cement and they were laid on their 

 sides to dry until the cement became tacky. 



The beetles were removed from the refrig- 

 erator and the boats were glued onto the 

 elytra just behind the thorax. The beetles 

 were then released in well-ventilated contain- 

 ers until the glue dried. 



An eye dropper was used to saturate the 

 cotton with 0.1 ml of a 20 percent lindane 

 solution. Ten female red oak borers and six 

 female locust borers were prepared. The red 

 oak borers were tested as follows: Each fe- 

 male red oak borer was released singly in 1- 

 liter plastic bucket, the sides and bottom of 

 which were lined with filter paper to enable 

 the beetles to crawl around without falling. 



'The use of trade, firm, or corporation names in 

 this publication is for the information and conveni- 

 ence of the reader. Such use does not constitute an 

 official endorsement or approval by the U.S. Depart- 

 ment of Agriculture or the Forest Service of any 

 product or service to the exclusion of others that 

 may be suitable. 



Three male beetles were introduced into each 

 bucket and a perforated lid was placed on 

 top. After 24 hours beetle mortality was re- 

 corded. 



Treated female locust borers were released 

 singly on trees in a black locust plantation. 

 Small trees were selected so that the treated 

 females could be easily observed and any 

 males contacting them could be collected. Any 

 male beetles that made contact with or at- 

 tempted to mate with treated females were 

 collected and placed in individual jars. After 

 24 hours male mortality was recorded. 



RESULTS AND DISCUSSION 



All 30 of the male red oak borers were dead 

 or near death after 24 hours; however, so 

 were the females. The aluminum boats were 

 intended to prevent the insecticide from con- 

 tacting the females. However, male beetles 

 attempting to mate contaminated the booby- 

 trapped females with insecticide. Not all the 

 locust borer males attempted to mate with 

 the females they encountered. When their an- 

 tennae contacted the boats before the body 

 of the female, they were apparently repelled 

 by the odor of the insecticide and moved 

 away. The boats were apparently too large for 

 the locust borer females and greatly reduced 

 the body area a male could contact. This is 

 important because males recognize females by 

 touch. 



Eleven male locust borers that made con- 

 tact with the six released females were col- 

 lected. Nine of the 11 males died within 24 

 hours. The other two males appeared un- 

 affected. Three other males made contact with 

 the females but escaped. All six treated fe- 

 males fell from the trees within 30 minutes 

 and soon died. 



While the test results show that females 

 can be successfully booby-trapped, it also 

 demonstrates the necessity of using insecti- 

 cide-resistant strains. If effective chemosteril- 

 ants for cerambycids could be found, they 

 would greatly enhance control by booby- 

 trapping. 



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