Electrophysiological and behavioral studies in the evaluation of semiochemical attractants for Stegobium paniceum L. (Coleoptera: Anobiidae)

Stegobium paniceum (L.) (Coleoptera: Anobiidae), also named drugstore beetle, is one of the major pests for a wide variety of dry and durable stored products. Females of this species produce a sex pheromone, (2S,3R,1’R)-Stegobinone that attracts males and elicit precopulatory searching behaviour. However, (2S,3R,1’R)-Stegobinone has eight possible isomers which are produced during its chemical synthesis and one of them inhibiting the pheromone activity, the (2S,3R,1'S)-Stegobinone form. In addition, the high costs of synthesis of (2S,3R,1’R)-Stegobinone suggest that alternative volatile compounds (e.g. those from food or oviposition sources) might be considered as attractant for traps. In t…