New attractants for trapping the cigarette beetle: from laboratory to field application

Abstract: This paper summarizes the efforts made in the last years by our research group to
evaluate new attractant semiochemicals that can find application for trapping the cigarette
beetle, Lasioderma serricorne (Coleoptera: Anobiidae), one of the most damaging pests in food storage and the tobacco industry worldwide. Laboratory bioassays, conducted using a two choice olfactometer, indicated that the dried fruits of Capsicum, mainly those of C. annuum, are particularly attractive to this pest. Further investigations suggested that this behaviour was mainly mediated by the key odorants α-ionone and β-ionone, present in the polar fraction of C. annuum: these molecules tested alone elicited an attraction similar to the whole C. annuum crude extract. A field study was carried out in an Italian bakery to verify the potential of those co-attractants in increasing trap captures of cigarette beetle adults. The results showed that the use of β-ionone increased the captures of cigarette beetles’ adults in comparison with traps baited with pheromone alone. These results indicate that the use of β-ionone can positively improve the performance of pheromone traps, having a more effective monitoring device that also can find application for mass trapping purposes.