Responses of the Asian Citrus Psyllid to Volatiles Emitted by the Flushing Shoots of Its Rutaceous Host Plants

• Published in: Environmental entomology 2010-04, Vol.39 (2), p.618-624
• Main Authors: Patt, J. M, Sétamou, M
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: alternative hosts; Animal and plant ecology; Animal, plant and microbial ecology; Animals; Autoecology; Behavior, Animal - drug effects; Biological and medical sciences; Candidatus Liberibacter; chemical composition; CHEMICAL ECOLOGY; Citrus; citrus fruits; Citrus limon; Control; cultivars; Diaphorina citri; disease transmission; etiology; Female; females; fruit crops; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; gas chromatography; greening disease; Hemiptera; Hemiptera - drug effects; host plants; Huanglongbing; insect pests; Integrated pest control; kairomone; Kuwayama; leaf volatiles; Male; males; mass spectrometry; Murraya paniculata; Oils, Volatile - isolation & purification; Oils, Volatile - pharmacology; Phytopathology. Animal pests. Plant and forest protection; plant pathogenic bacteria; plant pests; Plant Shoots - chemistry; Plants and fungi; Protozoa. Invertebrata; Protozoa. Invertebrates; Psyllidae; Rutaceae - chemistry; sesquiterpenoids; Terpenes - isolation & purification; Terpenes - pharmacology; terpenoids; volatile compounds
• ISSN: 0046-225X; 1938-2936
• DOI: 10.1603/EN09216

Diaphorina citri Kuwayama (Hemiptera: Psyllidae) carries Candidatus liberibacter spp., the putative causal agents of Huanglongbing. D. citri reproduces and develops only on the flushing shoots of its rutaceous host plants. Here we examined whether D. citri is attracted to host plant odors and a mixture of synthetic terpenes. Tests conducted in a vertically oriented Y-tube olfactometer showed that both males and females preferentially entered the Y-tube arm containing the odor from the young shoots of Murraya paniculata (L.) Jack and Citrus limon L. Burm. f. cultivar Eureka. Only males exhibited a preference for the odor of C.sinensis L., whereas the odor of C. × paradisi MacFadyen cultivar Rio Red was not attractive to both sexes. The volatiles emitted by young shoots of grapefruit cultivar Rio Red, Meyer lemon (Citrus × limon L. Burm.f.), and M. paniculata were analyzed by gas chromatograph-mass spectrometry. The samples were comprised of monoterpenes, monoterpene esters, and sesquiterpenes. The number of compounds present varied from 2 to 17, whereas the total amount of sample collected over 6 h ranged from 5.6 to 119.8 ng. The quantitatively dominant constituents were (E)-β-ocimene, linalool, linalyl acetate, and β-caryophyllene. The attractiveness of a mixture of synthetic terpenes, modeled on the volatiles collected from M. paniculata, was evaluated in screened cages in a no-choice test. At three observation intervals, significantly more individuals were trapped on white targets scented with the mixture than on unscented targets. These results indicate the feasibility of developing D. citri attractants patterned on actual host plant volatiles.