ABSTRACT
Comparisons of release rates, duration in the field, and catch efficiency of polyethylene and cotton roll dispensers for the sex pheromones of sawflies (Hymenoptera: Diprionidae) were conducted. The release rates of the Neodiprion sertifer (Geoffr.) and Diprion pini (L.) sex pheromones, the acetates of pentadecanol and (2S,3S,7S)-3,7-dimethyl (2S,3R,7R)-3,7-dimethyl-2-tridecanol from polyethylene dispensers were measured at different temperatures in the laboratory. The release rates for the substances depended on both the temperature and initial load in the vials. The catch from cotton rolls baited with 100 micrograms of the acetate or propionate of 3,7-dimethyl-2-pentadecanol was compared to the catch from regularly renewed cotton rolls baited with 10 micrograms of the same acetate. The catch was higher for the 100-microgram cotton rolls for, at most, 45 days, and there was no significant differences in catch between the acetate and the propionate. The catch in traps baited with polyethylene or cotton roll dispensers loaded with the acetate of 3,7-dimethyl-2-pentadecanol was compared and showed that cotton roll traps mirrored the decreasing release of the substance rather than the actual flight activity. The length of the flight period of N. sertifer in Sweden, the Czech Republic, Italy, and Greece did not exceed 100 days in any of the countries. By adjusting the initial pheromone load of the polyethylene vials to the expected temperatures, it should be possible to get a constant and sufficiently high release rate during the entire flight period.
