Apidologie 38 (2007) 380-389
DOI: 10.1051/apido:2007024

Composition of volatiles from fermenting pollen dough and attractiveness to the small hive beetle Aethina tumida, a parasite of the honeybee Apis mellifera

Baldwyn Torto^{a, b}, Richard T. Arbogast^c, Hans Alborn^c, Alonso Suazo^c, Dennis van Engelsdorp^d, Drion Boucias^a, James H. Tumlinson^e and Peter E.A. Teal<sup>c

a</sup>  IFAS, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL 32611, USA
^b  Current Address International Center of Insect Physiology and Ecology, PO Box 30772-00 100, Nairobi, Kenya
^c  USDA/ARS, Center for Medical, Agricultural and Veterinary Entomology, 1600/1700 SW 23rd Dr., Gainesville, FL 32608, USA
^d  Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture, Harrisburg, PA 17110, USA
^e  Dept. of Entomology, Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA 16802, USA

(Received 9 October 2006 - Revised 28 February 2007 - Accepted 8 March 2007 - Published online 10 October 2007)

Abstract - The response of the small hive beetle (SHB), Aethina tumida Murray, to volatiles from a pollen-based diet conditioned by the feeding of 100 adult virgin female or male SHBs (4-8 weeks old) for 1, 3, 7 or 14 days is described and compared to that of the same diet inoculated with the yeast Kodamaea ohmeri (NRRL Y-30722), isolated from the beetle. In a wind tunnel, volatiles from pollen dough conditioned by beetles of either sex for 3 or 7 days lured significantly more beetles into traps than volatiles from unconditioned dough. In contrast, trap captures with volatiles from dough conditioned for 1 and 14 days were weakly attractive. In cage bioassays, when naïve, unfed, virgin, SHBs (3-4 days old) were given a choice between yeast-inoculated pollen dough and non-inoculated dough, the responses were similar to those obtained in the wind tunnel with dough conditioned by SHBs for 3 and 7 days. Chemical analysis revealed high levels of fermentation-related products in volatiles that attracted the beetle.

Key words: Aethina tumida / Apis mellifera / pollen dough / volatile / electrophysiology


© INRA, DIB-AGIB, EDP Sciences 2007