Evidence of the sex-attractant pheromone and activity rhythm in Phyllopertha diversa Waterhouse (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae)

Behavior of the male plae brownish charfer, Phyllopertha diversa, was analyzed. In the laboratory, males were active in the daytime with the peak of activity, as observed by actograph, between 8 : 00 and 8 : 30. In the field, the peak of their flight activity was observed between 10 : 00 and 11 : 00. Males were attracted to female-baited traps in the daytime and were also attracted to a female extract, indicating the presence of a sex-attractant pheromone produced by females. Although all parts of a dissected female body attracted males in the field, the most attractive was the meso- and meta-thorax without wings. In laboratory bioassay of walking males in a glass tube, 1×10-2 FE extract elicited a response comparable to one live female.