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Q&A ViewAttendees 4

Plant-Insect Ecosystems

Student Competition 10-Minute Paper

Grad P-IE: Chemical Ecology

Interactions between pine host volatile 4-allylanisole (4AA) and other semiochemicals on southern pine beetle behavior

Monday, November 1, 2021
11:06 AM – 11:18 AM MT
Location: Colorado Convention Center, Four Seasons Ballroom 4
In-Person Student Competition
Southern pine beetle, Dendroctonus frontalis Zimmerman (SPB) is an ecologically and economically significant forest pest that has destroyed millions of hectares of pines (Pinus spp.) in the eastern United States. Typically, SPB population levels persist in an endemic or latent phase, but can outbreak or become epidemic. SPB utilizes complex chemical signaling to initiate mass attacks and overwhelm host trees’ defenses. Host trees release volatiles that can enhance or inhibit SPB’s response to its aggregation pheromone. One host volatile, 4-allylanisole (4 AA), has been previously observed to inhibit SPB aggregation, though our recent field tests have observed 4 AA to greatly enhance SPB catch when paired with commercial lures. The reason behind these conflicting results is not yet understood. Our goal is to explore this relationship and determine what factors influence SPB response to 4 AA. We will investigate how trap-type and presence of other semiochemicals (such as isomers of the SPB pheromone brevicomin and specific host odors) may affect SPB’s responses to 4 AA. Results may help in enhanced monitoring of SPB especially at low population levels and at the leading edge of invasion in the northeastern U.S.