V.G YATSYNIN and E.V RUBANOVA
Krasnodar Lukyanenko Research Institute of Agriculture, Krasnodar 12, 350012, Russia

Wireworm species has been regarded as a danger for the crops in  Kuban region (Southern Russia) for many years. Over the past years wireworm outbreaks were observed mainly in fields where high amounts of soil insecticides had been applied to crops in the pre-vious years. The main click beetle species detected in Kuban region  are: Agriotes tauricus Heyd., A. gurgistanus Fald. and, usually less harmful,  A. sputator L., A. lineatus L., A. ponticus Step., A. obscurus L., and Melanotus fusciceps Gyll., whose pheromones have not been completely studied yet.
The current  main objectives of the research on click beetles in Kuban region are the following:
- synthesis of click beetle pheromones attracting females;
- designing a new pheromone trap for monitoring and mass trapping for integrated pest management; these traps not catch useful insects;
- field optimization of  pheromone baits for Agriotes populations occurring in Kuban region;
- detection of repellent to wireworms substances derived from tartaric acid to be used as seed dressing;
- creating  pheromone analogues for click beetles. For example thiogeranyl butyrate, trans - geranyl crotonoate or L - a - alanine geranyl ester, reconstructed forms of a single pheromone substance of A. gurgistanus Fald. might be added to synthetic pheromones to obtain synergistic effects and therefore a more effective tool for mass trapping or mating disruption.

Acknowledgment: the study was partly supported by RFBR – south grant Nr00-04-96032.