Análisis del comportamiento y comunicación química intraespecífica en Strategus aloeus (L.) (coleóptera, Scarabaeidae - Dynastinae)

As part of the procedures of the agreement "New technology for managing the pests of oil palm (Elaeis guineensis) through the selection of synthetic attractants", Cenipalma in addition to the institutes INRA, CIRAD and EGNO of France; INIA of Spain; CCRI of Papua New Guinea; IOPRI of Indonesia and AGRISENSE of England, was analyzed the behavior and the intra-specific chemical communication of Strategus aloeus. It was established that the greater activity index in this species is registered between 2 a.m. and 5 a.m., moment at which the males release a pheromone when expose the abdomen to the entry of the galleries that dig at base of palms three years old. Different experiences at laboratory and field level demonstrated that the pheromone operates as sex attractant on the females. Though it was not established that such pheromone induce the aggregation phenomenon, it is evident that the males can recognize it, and some of them use it to detect the presence of others and be installed in their vicinity (in the same palm or in neighboring palms). In extreme cases they colonize foreign galleries, fight with their residents and vacate them. This fact determines male exchanges in the galleries, as well as the distribution pattern of this pest in the plantation. With the collaboration of the Chemical Mediators Laboratory of the INRA were identified the three components of the pheromone: Sa1: 95.45% (major component), Sa2: 0.9% and Sa3: 0.7% ( minor components).