Eugenol, a New Attractant for the Northern Corn Rootworm (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae)

Eugenol, a component of the best commercially available, food-type lure for Japanese beetles, Popillia japonica Newman, was attractive to adults of the northern corn rootworm (NCR), Diabrotica barberi Smith and Lawrence. Captures of NCR increased significantly as concentrations of eugenol in traps increased, and more beetles were attracted to eugenol-baited traps placed outside of a cornfield than to traps placed within the field. Adult western corn rootworms, Diabrotica virgifera virgifera Le Conte, which feed almost exclusively on corn, were not attracted to eugenol. Attraction of NCR to eugenol, a compound distributed widely in the plant kingdom, may indicate the extent to which NCR is adapted to feed on hosts other than corn.