Behavioral disruption of two orchard hemipteran pests by garlic essential oil

Abstract

Manipulating the odorscape of insects is a key component of most pest control strategies. It can be achieved using natural chemical products such as those emitted by nonhost plants (Conchou et al., 2019). In particular, companion plants can disrupt the pest olfactory environment, owing to the chemical masking properties and/or repelling effects of non-host volatile organic compounds (VOCs) they naturally emit when associated with focal crops (Parker et al., 2013). Exploiting other sources of non-host plantderived odors can be attained with essential oils (EOs) that provide a wide range of bioactive compounds. Distilled from plants, EOs are highly volatile secondary metabolites that may play a key role in plant-insect interactions, such as alkaloids, amides, chalcones, flavones, kawapirones, lignans, neolignans, or phenols (

In Vivo Bioassay of the Repellent Activity of Caraway Essential Oil against Green Peach Aphid

“…A recent review published in the Annual Review of Entomology by Isman [85] claimed that a better demonstration and understanding of crop protection efficacy under field conditions is needed. One potential challenge associated with this approach is the possibility that the attractive effect of the plant, which serves as a food source, may outweigh the repellent properties of the substance [86]. Furthermore, it is necessary to clarify whether VOC emission modification due to biopesticide application [87] maintains the attractiveness of the plant as a food source.…”

“…The method is based in a laboratory setting but includes the pest host plant in the testing system to simulate a microenvironment closer to field conditions, where the EO and plant VOCs are mixed. A choice to extend the length of the bridge from 12-20 cm [59,86,91] to 30 cm was made with the intention of preventing plant contact and avoiding visual stimuli. The same setup can be used for evaluating sprayable formulations without additional adaptations.…”