Red Turpentine Beetle, Dendroctonus valens LeConte (Coleoptera: Scolytidae), Response to Host Semiochemicals in China

Abstract The response of the introduced red turpentine beetle, Dendroctonus valens LeConte, to host semiochemicals in Shanxi Province, China, was distinctly different from that reported in previous studies conducted in the western part of the native range of D. valens in the central Sierra Nevada, CA. This finding suggests either that there is regional variation in D. valens response to host volatiles in North America or that the species underwent rapid adaptation after its introduction into Asia. In the Chinese population of D. valens, (+)-3-carene was the most attractive host monoterpene tested in studies conducted in 2002 using multiple funnel traps suspended in a Pinus tabuliformis stand. It attracted significantly more beetles than did any other single semiochemical or any of the ternary or quaternary blends tested, including the standard D. valens blend used in North America [a 1:1:1 blend of (+)-α-pinene, (−)-β-pinene, and (+)-3-carene]. (+)-α-Pinene and (−)-β-pinene, presented individually, were n...