Responses of Aleochara bilineata Gyllenhal and Aleochara bipustulata (L.) (Coleoptera: Staphylinidae) to dimethyl disulphide

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Date
2013-06-13
Authors
Du, Jing Jr
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Abstract
Aleochara bilineata and Aleochara bipustulata are staphylinid beetles that are attracted to pitfall traps baited with dimethyl disulphide (DMDS), but the role of DMDS in their biology has not been elucidated. In still air, first instar larvae of both Aleochara species exhibited area-restricted movement when they came near to DMDS. DMDS increased the frequency of parasitism of D. radicum puparia, the preferred host, but the frequency of attacks on unpreferred piophilid puparia was not affected by DMDS. In still air, adult A. bilineata and A. bipustulata distribution was not consistently influenced by DMDS. In a Y-tube olfactometer, newly-emerged females of both species avoided DMDS-laden air; after 10 days mated females chose air with DMDS. Newly emerged males also avoided DMDS, but after 10 days mated males neither avoided nor selected DMDS-laden air: the shift in response was associated with mating status rather than age.
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Aleochara, DMDS
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