Not Led by the Nose: Volatiles from Undamaged Eucalyptus Hosts Do Not Influence Psyllid Orientation

Insects

NoelW. Davies¹  MartinJ. Steinbauer²  Kevin Farnier² 

[1] Central Science Laboratory, University of Tasmania, Hobart, TAS 7001, Australia;Department of Ecology, Environment and Evolution, La Trobe University, Melbourne, VIC 3086, Australia;

关键词: Eucalyptus;    Aphalaridae;    Jumping plantlice;    sensory ecology;    terpenes;    foraging kairomone;   

DOI  :  10.3390/insects9040166

来源: DOAJ

【 摘 要 】

Psyllids (Hemiptera: Psylloidea) are small sucking insects with high host plant specificity. Despite the primitive olfactory system of psyllids, some species have been suggested to rely on host plant volatiles (HPVs) for seasonal migration between summer deciduous hosts and winter coniferous hosts. Similarly, enhanced attraction of psyllid vectors has been observed as a result of the manipulation of host odors by plant pathogens. As yet, there are no studies of olfaction in psyllids that utilize evergreen eucalypt hosts. We investigated the behavioral responses of adults of four Eucalyptus-feeding psyllids—Ctenarytaina eucalypti, C. bipartita, Anoeconeossa bundoorensis and Glycaspis brimblecombei—to their respective HPVs in Y-tube olfactometer bioassays. We also used existing physiological data for C. eucalypti to investigate potential olfactory tuning that may modulate the preference for morphologically juvenile leaves over morphologically adult leaves. Although adult C. eucalypti were consistently repelled by HPVs from damaged host leaves, none of the species exhibited positive chemotaxis to HPVs from undamaged leaves. Surprisingly, G. brimblecombei was repelled by HPVs from undamaged host leaves. Our findings provide little support for a significant role of olfaction in host location by Eucalyptus-feeding psyllids. We propose a number of ecological hypotheses to explain these unexpected findings.

【 授权许可】

Unknown