AGGREGATION PHEROMONE OF THE DRILL OF THE PASSION FRUIT, Philonis passiflorae (COLEOPTERA: CURCULIONIDAE): IDENTIFICATION AND BIOACTIVITY

Abstract

The passion fruit stem borer, Philonis passiflorae (Coleoptera: Curculionidae), is a 7 mm long beetle, brown in color and whitish or yellowish elyters, with two intersecting brown bands. The females of the insect have the habit of drilling the passion fruit stems to make the postures. After hatching, the larvae start herbivory by galling inside the branches, causing the affected stem to dry out. Thinking about the development of a rational technique and the application of behavioral control in Integrated Pest Management (IPM), the objective of this work was to identify the volatile compounds of P. passiflorae adults. The volatiles were collected by aeration of randomly selected insects (male and female). The analysis of the compounds took place by CG-FID and CG-MS, leading to the identification of two compounds, with the confirmation of the structure by co-injection with the authentic sample. Of the two compounds identified in the aeration extracts, the insect only responded to one of them under GC-EAG analysis. The following concentrations of active EAG compound were tested: 1.25ppm; 2.5ppm; 5ppm; 10ppm; 20ppm; 50ppm The electrophysiologically active concentration in the sample obtained by aeration was calculated using the internal standard (tetradecane). The insects (male and female) responded positively to the compound pattern at a concentration of 5 ppm in CG-EAG, EAG-Puff and in the Y-olfactometer bioassay. The results show that the compound identified at 5ppm acts as aggregation pheromone.