Abstract
The practicality of an improved synthetic sex pheromone lure for the yellowish elongate chafer, Heptophylla picea Motschulsky, was evaluated in tea fields in Shizuoka Prefecture, Japan. E-isomer level in the synthetic pheromone (Z)-7,15-hexadecadien-4-olide is 1% in the new products and 3% in the existing products; thus, purity of the pheromone in the new products is higher than that in the existing products. The number of male adults of H. picea attracted by pheromone traps (New Windspac®, Fuji Flavor Co., Ltd.) with the new products were, on an average, 2.4 times, and a maximum of 5.0 times, the number of male adults attracted by traps with the existing products, the new products were sufficiently effective for the monitoring . However, the number of male adults trapped using a new product was less than that trapped using a neighboring light trap, and the peak time of capture prevalence was earlier than that of the light trap. The number of H. picea attracted by 4 kinds of trap-set: 2 types of lures times 2 types of traps were counted in a tea field. Trap types did not significantly affect the number of H. picea, although the combined New Windspac® trap with the improved new lure attracted the most number of beetles. These results suggested that the New Windspac® trap with the improved new lure was sufficiently effective for the monitoring of H. picea in tea fields.
