Selective Attraction of Flower-visiting Beetles (Coleoptera) to Floral Fragrance Chemicals in a Tropical Rain Forest

Four floral fragrance chemicals, eugenol, benzyl acetate, methyl benzoate and linalool, were compared as regard to their possible attraction of flower-visiting Coleoptera in the field, the Air Hitam Forest Reserve, Selangor, Peninsular Malaysia. Scarabaeids, including Dasyvalgus, Callistethus and Mecinonota, were caught in the traps with eugenol, methyl benzoate or linalool. A large number of mordellids, mostly of Glipostenoda, were collected with linalool. Certain species of Curculionidae (Amorphoides, Endaenidius, and Mecysmoderes), which probably lay eggs in flowerbuds or ovaries, were caught in the traps with benzyl acetate, methyl benzoate or linalool. Most Cerambycinae including Longipalpus were collected with methyl benzoate while Lamiinae were chiefly caught in eugenol traps. Methyl benzoate and linalool were likely to attract a wide range of flower-visiting beetles, though some curculionids were exclusively caught in the traps with benzyl acetate.