Semiochemicals affecting the host-related behaviour of the dry bean beetle Acanthoscelides obtectus (Say)

A laboratory study on the chemical cues influencing the behaviour of Acanthoscelides obtectus (Coleoptera, Bruchidae) on dry bean seeds was carried out to identify possible semiochemicals affecting the oviposition of the beetle. In an olfactometer, A. obtectus females preferred the odour of clean beans to that of beans where conspecifics had developed; an ether extract of such beans was repellent to the insect. Some hydrocarbons that are repellent to females were identified; the effect of heptacosane on the oviposition was studied.