Journal of Chemical Ecology (2008) 34, 1153-1161

Ben Webster, Toby Bruce, Samuel Dufour, Claudia Birkemeyer, Michael Birkett, Jim Hardie and John Pickett (2008)
Identification of volatile compounds used in host location by the black bean aphid, Aphis fabae
Journal of Chemical Ecology 34 (9), 1153-1161
Abstract: Behavioral and electrophysiological responses of winged Aphis fabae to volatiles of faba bean, Vicia faba (var. Sutton dwarf), plants were studied and semiochemicals used in host location were identified. In olfactometer bioassays, aphids spent significantly more time in the region of the olfactometer where V. faba volatiles from an intact plant were present than in control regions with clean air. This response also occurred when an air entrainment sample of a V. faba plant was used as the odor source. Coupled gas chromatography-electroantennography revealed the presence of 16 electrophysiologically active compounds in the air entrainment sample. Fifteen of these were identified as (Z)-3-hexen-1-ol, 1-hexanol, (E)-2-hexenal, benzaldehyde, 6-methyl-5-hepten-2-one, octanal, (Z)-3-hexen-1-yl acetate, (R)-(−)-linalool, methyl salicylate, decanal, undecanal, (E)-caryophyllene, (E)-ß-farnesene, (S)-(−)-germacrene D, and (E,E,)-4,8,12-trimethyl-1,3,7,11-tridecatetraene. An olfactometer response was observed to a 15-component synthetic blend that comprised all identified compounds at the same concentration and ratio as in the natural sample, with the aphids spending significantly more time in the treated regions of the olfactometer where volatiles were present than in the control regions. These data are discussed in the context of insect host location and crop protection.
(The abstract is excluded from the Creative Commons licence and has been copied with permission by the publisher.)
Link to article at publishers website
Database assignments for author(s): Ben Webster, Toby J.A. Bruce, Michael A. Birkett, John A. Pickett

Research topic(s) for pests/diseases/weeds:
environment - cropping system/rotation
pheromones/attractants/traps

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Pest and/or beneficial records:

Beneficial	Pest/Disease/Weed	Crop/Product	Country	Quarant.
	Aphis fabae	Broad/faba bean (Vicia faba)