Perception of Heterospecific Sex Pheromone Causes Less Effective Mating Disruption in the Beet Semilooper, Autographa nigrisigna (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae)

Confuser® V is a pheromone-based mating disruptant designed to reduce damage caused by seven species of moth pests, including the beet semilooper, Autographa nigrisigna (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae). Eggs and larvae of A. nigrisigna are often found in fields treated with Confuser® V, suggesting that some components in the Confuser® V blend may have adverse effects on the efficacy of mating disruption of this species. Therefore, we examined whether A. nigrisigna perceives heterospecific pheromone components in the Confuser® V blend and delineated the roles of these components with respect to attraction and communication disruption. We found that several heterospecific pheromone components in the Confuser® V blend were perceived by male A. nigrisigna , and the addition of these components to the pheromone blend of A. nigrisigna reduced the attraction of males in the field, and tended to reduce the efficacy of mating disruption in cage bioassays.