Preliminary experiments on the olfactory responses of Pterostichus melanarius illiger (Coleoptera: Carabidae) to intact plants

1 In two successive years, the olfactory responses of Pterostichus melanarius Illiger (Coleoptera: Carabidae) to intact cabbage and white clover plants were studied, using a four-arm olfactometer. 2 The first set of experiments tested the response to the odours of cabbage, white clover and the two plants grown together against potting compost; in the second and third sets of experiments, white clover and cabbage were tested, respectively. 3 The results indicate that female P. melanarius individuals are arrested by the combined odours of cabbage and white clover, spending significantly more time in the cabbage with white clover odour field than in either the cabbage, white clover or control odour fields. 4 Similar results were not found for males. 5 Cabbage plants alone did not elicit significant responses in either sex. 6 White clover alone did not elicit significant responses by females and the responses of males were not uniform in the two successive years.