D3443: Assessing chemical attractants for click beetles in the southeastern Ohio tristate region

Click beetles (family Elateridae) occupy a variety of niches. The larvae of most species are saprophagous, some are predatory, and others feed on the roots of living plants. These click beetle larvae, referred to as wireworms, can damage crop plants, making them serious agricultural pests that are difficult to control and monitor. While the adult beetles themselves do not damage plants, they are often the targets of management practices, because wireworms develop underground. One behavior of adult click beetles that can be exploited for management purposes is their ability to register and respond to chemical signals, including pheromones. Until recently, however, most studies of click beetle pheromones were limited to Eurasia. We tested the impact on elaterid capture rates of seven different potential pheromones when applied to black panel traps at a site in Clermont Co., Ohio. Our results suggest that one of these compounds may be an attractant pheromone of Glyphonyx ferruginosus (Schaeffer, 1916).