European corn borer (Ostrinia nubilalis Hbn., Lepidoptera: Crambidae): comparing the performance of a new bisexual lure with that of synthetic sex pheromone in five countries.

BACKGROUND Phenylacetaldehyde is a flower volatile and attractant among others also for the European corn borer Ostrinia nubilalis. The addition of 4-methoxyphenethyl alcohol has recently been reported to increase O. nubilalis catches 4 to 5 times, yielding a bisexual lure for the species. RESULTS The bisexual lure significantly outperformed synthetic pheromone lures of O. nubilalis at 11 out of 13 experiments conducted in Bulgaria, Hungary, Italy, Slovenia and Turkey. CONCLUSION The bisexual lure will provide to growers a new and efficient method for detection and monitoring of O. nubilalis.