Attraction of the Orange Mint Moth and False Celery Leaftier Moth (Lepidoptera: Crambidae) to Floral Chemical Lures

Orange mint moths, Pyrausta orphisalis (Walker) (Crambidae), were initially trapped in a study of noctuid moth attraction to floral volatiles. A subsequent series of trapping experiments in commercial mint fields determined that phenylacetaldehyde and 4-oxoisophorone were attractive to P. orphisalis, whereas benzyl acetate, eugenol, cis-jasmone, limonene, linalool, methyl-2-methoxybenzoate, methyl salicylate, beta-myrcene, and 2-phenylethanol were not. When used in combination with phenylacetaldehyde, 4-oxoisophorone and methyl-2-methoxybenzoate increased catches of P. orphisalis in traps by similar to 50%, and beta-myrcene tripled the trap catch. A second crambid species, the false celery leaftier moth, Udea profundalis Packard, was also attracted to phenylacetaldehyde, but was not attracted to any other single-chemical lure. Cis-jasmone, limonene, and 4-oxoisophorone increased catches of U. profundalis by similar to 50% when presented in traps with phenylacetaldehyde, while linalool increased the catch 2.5-fold, and beta-myrcene tripled the trap catch. Both sexes of each species were similarly attracted to most of these lures. These findings provide chemical lures for trapping males and females of both P. orphisalis and U. profundalis.