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From laboratory to field: electro-antennographic and behavioral responsiveness of two insect predators to methyl salicylate

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Abstract

Methyl salicylate (MeSA) is a commonly emitted herbivore-induced plant volatile (HIPV) known to attract insect predators in agricultural crops. However, thorough studies on whether MeSA can increase their ecological functioning or their attraction under field conditions are still lacking. Here, we conducted laboratory, greenhouse, and field studies to address the hypothesis that two agriculturally important predatory insects (the ladybeetle Hippodamia convergens Guérin-Méneville and the lacewing Chrysoperla rufilabris Burmeister) respond physiologically and behaviorally to MeSA, which may lead to increased predation and oviposition. In laboratory studies using electro-antennography, we found that male and female H. convergens and C. rufilabris antennae can detect MeSA; however, for both species, female antennae responded more strongly. In greenhouse studies using cages and wind tunnels, H. convergens females were attracted to, and arrested by, MeSA; this attraction increased egg predation. Attraction of C. rufilabris females to MeSA also increased oviposition. In field studies, mark-release-recapture experiments were performed to investigate H. convergens and C. rufilabris attraction to MeSA over various distances in cranberry fields. More H. convergens and C. rufilabris were caught on yellow sticky cards placed close (0–30 m) to the predator release site than at farther distances, regardless of whether the cards were baited with MeSA or not. In conclusion, H. convergens and C. rufilabris adults detected, and were attracted to, MeSA under laboratory and greenhouse conditions, resulting in higher predation and oviposition, but this attraction was not observed under field conditions. These results demonstrate that predator responses to HIPVs can be complex in real agricultural settings.

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Acknowledgements

We thank Brett Blaauw and Robert Holdcraft for assistance with the ELISA tests. We also thank Diego Fraga, Kris Dahl, Charles Corris, Gabrielle Pintauro, Manuel Chacón-Fuentes, Mara Schiffhauer, Mike Scullion, Andrew Lux, Caryn Michel, Nakorn Pradit, Andrea Wanumen, and Fernando Sanchez for their help in the field. Thanks to Drs. Elvira de Lange, Maria Fernanda Peñaflor, Rosangela Marucci, Mauricio Simões Bento, Diego Felisbino Fraga, and two anonymous reviewers for providing helpful editorial comments on an earlier draft. Thanks to Pine Island Cranberry Co. Inc. and Pine Barrens Native Fruits, LLC for providing cranberry fields for this study. Funding for this work was provided by a postgraduate grant from the Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq) to J.S., and hatch funds (project # NJ08192) to C.R-S.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Departamento de Entomologia, Universidade Federal de Lavras, Caixa Postal 3037, CEP 37200-000, Lavras, Minas Gerais, Brazil

    Jordano Salamanca & Brígida Souza

  2. Ecdysis Foundation: Blue Dash Farm Initiative, 46958 188th St., Estelline, SD, 57234, USA

    Jonathan G. Lundgren

  3. Department of Entomology, Philip E. Marucci Center, Rutgers University, Chatsworth, NJ, 08019, USA

    Cesar Rodriguez-Saona

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  1. Jordano Salamanca
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  2. Brígida Souza
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  3. Jonathan G. Lundgren
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  4. Cesar Rodriguez-Saona
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Correspondence to Jordano Salamanca.

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Communicated by as Michael Heethoff.

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Salamanca, J., Souza, B., Lundgren, J.G. et al. From laboratory to field: electro-antennographic and behavioral responsiveness of two insect predators to methyl salicylate. Chemoecology 27, 51–63 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00049-017-0230-8

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00049-017-0230-8

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