Repellent Effect of Volatile Fatty Acids on Lesser Mealworm (Alphitobius diaperinus)

Volatile fatty acids (VFAs) are a group of common metabolites and semiochemicals mediating information transfer between higher organisms and bacteria, either from microbiome or external environment. VFAs commonly occur among various insect orders. There are numerous studies exploring their influence...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Insects (Basel, Switzerland) Switzerland), 2018-03, Vol.9 (1), p.35
Main Authors: Baran, Bartosz, Krzyżowski, Michał, Cup, Mikołaj, Janiec, Jakub, Grabowski, Mateusz, Francikowski, Jacek
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Alphitobius diaperinus
Brief Report
Fatty acids
Food production
Formic acid
Grain
Information transfer
Insects
locomotor activity
Metabolites
Microbiomes
Pests
Place preferences
repellency
Semiochemicals
Species
Stored products
Valeric acid
Volatile fatty acids
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Summary:Volatile fatty acids (VFAs) are a group of common metabolites and semiochemicals mediating information transfer between higher organisms and bacteria, either from microbiome or external environment. VFAs commonly occur among various insect orders. There are numerous studies exploring their influence on the behavior of different insect species. In relation to the papers published by J. E. McFarlane in 1985, we assessed the effects of formic, acetic, propionic, butyric and valeric acids on the spatial preference of the lesser mealworm ( ), a common pest of stored food grain products and the poultry industry. The main aim of the presented study was to provide new angles in VFA research, recreating the classical study both with new methods and on economically significant pest species. This paper presents a novel method of continuous, simultaneous assessment of site preference and the travelled distance in a constant-flow olfactometer. All the tested VFAs, except valeric acid, had a significant repellent effect, with formic acid being effective even at the lowest used concentration. Additionally, the VFAs significantly altered the distance travelled by the insects. The obtained results indicate a potential role for VFAs in the olfactory guided behavior of . It is suspected that the reaction to the presence of VFAs may deviate from the specificity of species' original habitat.
ISSN:2075-4450
2075-4450
DOI:10.3390/insects9010035