RESPONSES OF MACRODACTYLUS SPP (COLEOPTERA, SCARABAEIDAE) AND OTHER INSECTS TO FOOD ATTRACTANT IN TLAXCALA AND JALISCO, MEXICO

The effects of a food attractant [trinary mixture of hexanoic acid, va leric acid and octyl butyrate (1:1:1)] were evaluated in a trapping tr ial for scarab beetles in the Mexican states of Tlaxcala and Jalisco. This mixture was highly attractive to Macrodactylus nigripes Bates in Tlaxcala and M. murinus Bates in Jalisco, capturing a mean of 50.2 and 84 individuals per trap per sampling date, respectively. In addition, all other insects which were taken at the traps were identified to fa mily and classified by feeding habits. Only one non-scarabeid species appeared to be attracted to the baited traps, i.e. Apis mellifera L.; all other insect families averaged less than one individual per trap.