New ways to control Colorado Potato Beetle are marrying pheromones, volatiles and potentially natural repellants.
“We’re trying to create what we’d call a push-pull system, where you have something attractive, like the pheromones and potato volatiles, to attract them into a trap,” explained Dr. Rebecca Hallett, University of Guelph School of Environmental Sciences professor and principal investigator. “And you have something repellent that would push them away from the field.”
An effective aggregation pheromone trap and a perimeter or in-row repellency strategy could minimize Colorado Potato Beetle population and yield impacts early on.
Read Also
CUSMA access key among other trade noise: Seeds Canada panel
Seeds Canada conference panelists say Canada needs to stay focused and wait as U.S. trade and tariff chaos develops, and a Canada-U.S.-Mexico Agreement review looms
According to Hallett, the principal investigator, it’s the first study evaluating different Colorado Potato Beetle pheromone combinations, release rates and effectiveness of pheromone and potato volatile kairomones, which attract pests to host plants, since it was isolated in the early 2000s, particularly within an operational field setting, either at the field edge or in-row.
“It’s an aggregation pheromone. If we can increase the attraction of males and particularly females to these lures,” she said. “There’s quite a high potential to impact potato beetle populations and reduce yield effects, but it’s dependent on getting that really attractive blend of compounds.”
Andy Colton, an entomology Ph.D. student, said that lab studies of the original pheromone showed lower than anticipated attraction rates, requiring significant investment to purify and improve the synthetic pheromone before they could initiate field-level research.
Colton said thousands of beetles responded to pheromone traps in one of the two test sites, which, to his knowledge, was a first with wild beetles.
“One of our strategies is to deploy traps around the perimeter and hope to intercept (the beetles) when they emerge,” he shared, adding Colorado Potato Beetle overwinters in field margins, emerging in May to June to walk into fields.
Ideally, perimeter traps combined with in-row integration will attract emerging pests early on and lure survivors off host plants, diminishing the beetle population.
“(This) is more difficult. There are definitely stages of the season where they’re more primed for the pheromone and host volatiles,” Colton explained. “We’re finding different results at different stages.”
The first in-field trials provided insight into the aggregation pheromone traps, but more work still needs to be done.
“Colorado potato beetle is a global pest, so if it (the new pheromone) works, it may very well be economically feasible (to scale production),” Hallett explained. “But at this point, it’s too early to say. It’s been expensive trying to get this synthesis done properly.”
Colton’s lab research on the efficacy of high volatile plant compounds from hops and cannabis by-products as a repellent is in its infancy.
“Cannabis, in particular, is very high in terpenes, and some research has suggested that the presence of non-host volatiles may deter pest activity,” he explained.
Colorado Potato Beetle females are picky about where they lay eggs, and early lab research indicates cannabis could interrupt feeding and egg-laying patterns, but it has some challenges.
“The regulations are tight (with cannabis), so working with it has been difficult,” he admitted. “I’m excited to get my hands on some hops because it’s an aromatic plant in a similar family, so there could be activity.”
The repellency mulch, sourced from cannabis and craft beer market by-products, could provide a knock-on value for the industry’s waste products.
Hallett anticipates field-level cannabis mulch trials will likely begin in 2025, and trap deployment research to identify the ideal location and Colorado Potato Beetle interception timing as an attractant, rather than luring them off potato plants, will continue.
Growers interested in participating in in-field research are encouraged to contact Colton.
“Colorado potato beetle is a global pest, so if it (the new pheromone) works, it may very well be economically feasible (to scale production),” Hallett explained. “But at this point, it’s too early to say. It’s been expensive trying to get this synthesis done properly.”
