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Olfactory responses of the omnivorous generalist predator Dicyphus hesperus to plant and prey odours
Author(s) -
McGregor R.R.,
Gillespie D.R.
Publication year - 2004
Publication title -
entomologia experimentalis et applicata
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.765
H-Index - 83
eISSN - 1570-7458
pISSN - 0013-8703
DOI - 10.1111/j.0013-8703.2004.00194.x
Subject(s) - biology , olfactometer , trialeurodes , tetranychus urticae , homoptera , aphid , myzus persicae , greenhouse whitefly , botany , miridae , aphididae , horticulture , pest analysis , heteroptera , ecology , host (biology)
Responses of female Dicyphus hesperus Knight (Heteroptera: Miridae) to the odours of plants and prey were tested in the laboratory using a Y‐tube olfactometer. Females were attracted to the odour of tomato leaves infested with nymphs of the greenhouse whitefly, Trialeurodes vaporariorum Westwood (Homoptera: Aleyrodidae), compared to uninfested leaves. No such attraction occurred to tomato leaves infested with two‐spotted spider mites, Tetranychus urticae Koch (Acari: Tetranychidae). When females were simultaneously presented with the odours of whitefly and mite‐infested leaves, no preference for either odour was recorded. Similarly, females were attracted to the odour of pepper leaves infested with green peach aphids [ Myzus persicae (Sulzer) (Homoptera: Aphididae)] compared to uninfested leaves, but were not attracted to the odour of pepper leaves infested with eggs of cabbage loopers, Trichoplusia ni (Hübner) (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae). When aphid‐infested and looper‐egg‐infested pepper leaves were presented simultaneously, no preference for either odour was detected. The results are discussed as they relate to the evolution of infochemical use in generalist omnivorous predators.