Volatile organic compounds emitted by bottlebrush species affect the behaviour of the sweet potato whitefly

Abstract

The behavioural response of the sweet potato whitefly, Bemisia tabaci biotype B, to the volatiles emitted by three different species of Callistemon (C. laevis, C. pallidus and C. phoeniceus) was assayed in still-air, and Y-tube olfactometers. B. tabaci adults showed a preference for C. pallidus, while C. laevis and C. phoeniceus were less attractive to the insects when compared to a blank control or to C. pallidus. Volatile organic compounds emitted by the leaves of the three Callistemon species were analysed by solid phase microextraction coupled with GC–MS. 1,8-Cineole was detected in high percentages in C. phoeniceus and C. laevis headspaces, while linalool was abundant in the headspace of C. pallidus. Because of this difference, behavioural tests in the Y-tube olfactometer were carried out also with 1,8-cineole and linalool. Adults of B. tabaci were attracted by linalool, while they were repelled by 1,8-cineole compared with pure air or linalool. These results support the role of these volatiles in the host plant selection process by a herbivorous insect and lay the foundations for the development of sustainable control strategies based on the manipulation of insect pest behaviou

Chemical investigations of volatile kairomones produced by Hyphantria cunea (Drury), a host of the parasitoid Chouioia cunea Yang

“…In the natural environment, insects are attracted to odors, which are frequently blends of chemicals. In these blends, there are compounds that are considered key components and sometimes only by themselves can elicit attraction (Zheng et al , 2014; Sacchetti et al , 2015; Azandeme-Hounmalon et al , 2016). However, other studies suggest that only blends of chemicals at certain proportions can elicit any attraction (e.g., Mukherjee et al , 2015; Malik et al , 2016).…”

Volatile Organic Compounds as Insect Repellents and Plant Elicitors: an Integrated Pest Management (IPM) Strategy for Glasshouse Whitefly (Trialeurodes vaporariorum)

“…Whiteflies are known to respond to subtle changes in their olfactory environment and recognition of volatiles is used in their selection of a suitable host (Bleeker et al 2009;Darshanee et al 2017;Shi et al 2016). Whilst some studies have identified individual VOCs that are repellent to whitefly (Bleeker et al 2009;Li et al 2014;Sacchetti et al 2015), work implementing whitefly repellent VOCs into a commercial IPM set up are extremely limited (Schlaeger et al 2018). Despite this, we recently had success repelling whiteflies from a tomato crop using limonene, a compound which we identified from the whitefly non-host French marigold (Tagetes patula L.; Conboy et al (2019)).…”

Grouped SPME Comparison of Floral Scent as a Method of Unlocking Phylogenetic Patterns in Volatiles

“…Local and international studies focusing on the extraction or distillation of essential oils and non-floral material of Australian native species have identified a high terpene content for the members of the Myrtaceae such as Eucalyptus and Callistemon (see Brophy et al, 1998;Külheim et al, 2015;Sacchetti et al, 2015;Bustos-Segura et al, 2017). Monoterpene emissions have also been corroborated through foliar headspace studies of Eucalyptus (Steinbauer et al, 2004;Farnier et al, 2018).…”