Dry air improves GC ‐ EAD sensitivity for detecting semiochemicals in Carpophilus davidsoni

Carpophilus beetles (Coleoptera: Nitidulidae) are cosmopolitan pests of orchard crops. Research on their olfactory behaviour has led to the development of attractive lures. Commercial attractants include the use of aggregation pheromones of multiple Carpophilus species with microbial volatiles from fermenting fruit. Gas chromatography coupled with electroantennography (GC‐EAD) is a powerful tool commonly used to identify biologically active volatiles in insects' olfaction, yet its application to Carpophilus species has been limited. To date, most of the known attractants for Carpophilus beetles have been identified through behavioural assays, chemical analyses and field experiments. Here, we employed GC‐EAD to investigate the antennal responses of the stone fruit pest, Carpophilus davidsoni , to a commercial co‐attractant and synthetic carpophilus pheromones, overcoming technical barriers that previously restricted such studies. A GCMS‐FID‐EAD setup was optimized by incorporating refined insect preparation and effluent delivery techniques. Notably, excluding effluent humidification—a common GC‐EAD practice—proved essential for achieving robust signal‐to‐noise ratios, a finding not widely reported for nitidulids. The optimized method was then used to screen volatile extracts of Pichia kluyveri, a yeast commonly encountered in the guts of C. davidsoni and known to attract adults, revealing new insights into its olfactory cues. These methodological advancements distinguish this work from prior efforts and enhance our capacity to refine existing lures and explore semiochemicals for other nitidulid beetles, offering a significant step forward in precision pest management.