Field Evaluation of Various Attractant Blends And Barrier-Funnel Traps for Capturing Polygraphus Beetles in 2025 in Irkutsk Oblast

Three closely related Polygraphus species occur in the studied fir stands: Polygraphus proximus Blandford, Polygraphus poligraphus L. and Polygraphus subopacus Thoms. (Krivolutskaya, 1996; Stark, 1952; Krivets, Kerchev et al., 2015). Polygraphus proximus Blandford, 1894, the most aggressive and economically important invasive species, was regarded as an endemic species of the Far Eastern entomofauna until 2008. Following its introduction into Southern Siberia, it is now one of the main pests in the complex of factors causing the modern large-scale dieback of Siberian fir forests. The species is included in the quarantine lists of the Russian Federation, the Eurasian Economic Union, and several countries importing Russian timber. In accordance with the International Plant Protection Convention and the Federal Law “On Plant Quarantine”, the timely detection of Polygraphus proximus is of major practical importance in the context of fulfilling both the international obligations of the Russian Federation and the legislation of the Russian Federation in the field of plant quarantine. This article presents the results of field trials of various attractant blends for detecting and monitoring pests of the genus Polygraphus using barrier-funnel traps. The trials were conducted in Irkutsk Oblast in the summer of 2025. The results demonstrated that a blend consisting of α-pinene, (2Z)-2-(3,3-dimethylcyclohexylidene) ethanol proved to be the most effective.

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