The Involvement of Volatile Infochemicals from Spider Mites and from Food-Plants in Prey Location of the Generalist Predatory Mite Neoseiulus californicus

Abstract

We investigated volatile infochemicals possibly involved in location of the generalist predatory mite Neoseiulus californicus to plants infested with spider mites in a Y-tube olfactometer. The predators significantly preferred volatiles from lima bean leaves infested with Tetranychus urticae to uninfested lima bean leaves. Likewise, they were attracted to volatiles from artificially damaged lima bean leaves and those from T. urticae plus their visible products. Significantly more predators chose infested lima bean leaves from which T. urticae plus their visible products had been removed than artificially damaged leaves, T. urticae, and their visible products. These results suggest that N. californicus is capable of exploiting a variety of volatile infochemicals originating from their prey, from the prey-foodplants themselves, and from the complex of the prey and the host plants (e.g., herbivore-induced volatiles). We also investigated predator response to some of the synthetic samples identified as volatile components emitted from T. urticae-infested lima bean leaves and/or artificially damaged lima bean leaves. The predators were attracted to each of the five synthetic volatile components: linalool, methyl salicylate, (Z)-3-hexen-1-ol, (E)-2-hexenal, and (Z)-3-hexenyl acetate. The role of each volatile compound in prey-searching behavior is discussed.

Intraspecific variation in the olfactory response of the predatory mite Neoseiulus womersleyi Schicha (Acari: Phytoseiidae) to different amount of spider mite-infested plant volatiles

“…Thus, it is likely that we did not detect some of the previously reported volatile compounds because of differences in the conditions of the plant materials between the two studies. DMNT is known to attract Phytoseiulus persimilis Athias-Henriot (Acari: Phytoseiidae) (Dicke et al, 1990a), and methyl salicylate attracts P. persimilis, N. californicus and Amblyseius potentillae Garman (Acari: Phytoseiidae) (Dicke et al, 1990a;Shimoda et al, 2005). Methyl salicylate is an important signal for P. persimilis to identify the presence of spider mites (De Boer andDicke, 2004a, b, 2005;De Boer et al, 2004).…”

Response of the predatory mite Phytoseiulus macropilis (Banks) to volatiles produced by strawberry plants in response to attack by Tetranychid mites (Acari: Phytoseiidae: Tetranychidae)

“…Silva et al (2005) also found that T. urticae was suitable for development and reproduction of P. macropilis. However, they found different values for the biological parameters evaluated, which could be explained by the The P. macropilis preference for clean air in opposition to uninfested plants is not an unusual response by phytoseiid predators (Shimoda et al 2005), but the reason for this type of response is still unknown. Probably, the cues emitted by non-attacked plants signal to the predator the absence of a prey and lead it to search for a prey elsewhere.…”

“…However, they found different values for the biological parameters evaluated, which could be explained by the Neotropical Entomology 39(2) 251 different geographical origin of these predator populations and/ or by the methods used. The P. macropilis preference for clean air in opposition to uninfested plants is not an unusual response by phytoseiid predators (Shimoda et al 2005), but the reason for this type of response is still unknown. Probably, the cues emitted by non-attacked plants signal to the predator the absence of a prey and lead it to search for a prey elsewhere.…”

Changing green leaf volatile biosynthesis in plants: An approach for improving plant resistance against both herbivores and pathogens

“…It has been reported that GLVs negatively affect herbivore performance (2,3) and play an important role in the recruitment of the carnivorous natural enemies of herbivores (4)(5)(6)(7)(8). Further, GLVs are known to have antifungal activity toward several microorganisms (9)(10)(11).…”