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Volatiles Emitted from Tea Plants Infested by Ectropis obliqua Larvae Are Attractive to Conspecific Moths

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Abstract

Herbivore-induced plant volatiles have been reported to play a role in the host-searching behavior of herbivores. However, next to nothing is known about the effect of volatiles emitted from tea plants infested by Ectropis obliqua larvae on the behavior of conspecific adults. Here, we found that tea plants infested by E. obliqua caterpillars for 24 h were more attractive to both virgin male and female E. obliqua adults than were intact, uninfested tea plants; moreover, mated female E. obliqua moths were more attracted by infested tea plants and preferentially oviposited on these plants, whereas male moths were repelled by infested plants once they had mated. Volatile analysis revealed that the herbivore infestation dramatically increased the emission of volatiles. Among these volatiles, 17 compounds elicited antennal responses from both male and female virginal moths. Using a Y-tube olfactometer, we found that 3 of the 17 chemicals, benzyl alcohol, (Z)-3-hexenyl hexanoate, and (Z)-3-hexenal, were attractive, but two compounds, linalool and benzyl nitril, were repellent to virgin male and female moths. One chemical, (Z)-3-hexenyl acetate, was attractive only to virgin males. Mated females were attracted by three compounds, (Z)-3-hexenyl hexanoate, (Z)-3-hexenyl acetate, and (Z)-3-hexenal; whereas mated males were repelled by (Z)-3-hexenol. The findings provide new insights into the interaction between tea plants and the herbivores, and may help scientists develop new measures with which to control E. obliqua.

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Acknowledgments

We thank Emily Wheeler for editorial assistance. The study was sponsored by Special Fund for Agro-scientific Research in the Public Interest (201403030), National Program on Key Basic Research Project (973 Program) (2012CB114104), National Natural Science Foundation of China (31272053, 31471784).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Tea Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Hangzhou, 310008, China

    Xiao-Ling Sun, Guo-Chang Wang, Yu Gao, Xin-Zhong Zhang, Zhao-Jun Xin & Zong-Mao Chen

  2. Key Laboratory of Tea Biology and Resources Utilization, Ministry of Agriculture, Hangzhou, 310008, China

    Xiao-Ling Sun, Yu Gao, Xin-Zhong Zhang, Zhao-Jun Xin & Zong-Mao Chen

  3. Henan Institute of Science and Technology, Xinxiang, 453000, China

    Guo-Chang Wang

  4. College of Agriculture, Jilin Agricultural University, Changchun, 130017, China

    Yu Gao

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  1. Xiao-Ling Sun
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  2. Guo-Chang Wang
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  3. Yu Gao
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  4. Xin-Zhong Zhang
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  5. Zhao-Jun Xin
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  6. Zong-Mao Chen
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Correspondence to Zong-Mao Chen.

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Xiao-Ling Sun and Guo-Chang Wang are equally contributetd.

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Sun, XL., Wang, GC., Gao, Y. et al. Volatiles Emitted from Tea Plants Infested by Ectropis obliqua Larvae Are Attractive to Conspecific Moths. J Chem Ecol 40, 1080–1089 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10886-014-0502-5

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