Effect of Volatiles from Plants on the Selectivity of Tetranychus viennensis for Different Host Plants

Abstract

Olfactory responses of Tetranychus viennensis to different plant odors were studied with a Y  olfactometer and petri dishes, and volatiles from leaves of different plants were absorbed with solid phase microextraction and analyzed with gas chromatography mass spectroscopy. The study showed that olfaction took place in the response when the Hawthorn Spider Mite looked for host plants, indicating that T. viennensis were attracted by odors from host plants. Different host plants have different attractions to T. viennensis; some attract strongly, while others do so to a lesser extent. The nonhost plants tested have neither attraction nor repulsion to the mite. The volatiles from leaves of different host plants such as Malus pumila, P. bretschneideri, Amygdalus persica, Armeniaca vulgaris, Malus spectabilis, Crataegus pinnatifida, and Prunus yedoensis consist of trans-3-hexen-l-ol, acetate, trans-3-hexenyl ester butanolic acid, α-farensene, etc., which do not exist in the nonhost plants such as Euonymus japonicus.

Keywords

Tetranychus viennensis, host selection, host plants, olfactory response, volatiles