Wheat Midge Pheromone Traps Created

REGINA - Mar 2/04 - SNS -- Pheromone traps are finally available for monitoring orange wheat blossom midge populations.

"Pheromones are one method by which insects communicate: they are chemicals that may attract, repel or alert other insects of the same species," explains Dr. Owen Olfert, a research scientist with Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada in Saskatoon. "Pheromones are very specific to each insect species and each pheromone is very specific in its action and the reaction it elicits.

"The sex pheromone emitted by the female wheat midge and received by the male wheat midge, for example, is designed to attract the male at mating time. If you watch a female wheat midge at mating time - the orange wheat blossom midge is very small, about half the size of a mosquito - you can see the females raise their abdomen to release the pheromone."

About five years ago, Olfert, an entomologist, was in discussion with Dr. Gerhard Gries, a "pheromone expert" who teaches Chemical Ecology at Simon Fraser University, Burnaby, B.C. Gries had worked with other midge species, and asked Olfert for wheat midge cocoons in order to raise females for further study of midge pheromones.

The subscriber version of the article is available by Clicking here