Apolygus lucorum (Meyer-Dür) (Hemiptera: Miridae) is one of the most important herbivores in a broad range of cultivated plants, including cotton, cereals, vegetables, and fruit crops in China. In this manuscript, we report on a 6-year long study in which (adult) A. lucorum abundance was recorded on 174 plant species from 39 families from early July to mid-September. Through the study period per year, the proportion of flowering plants exploited by adult A. lucorum was significantly greater than that of non-flowering plants. For a given plant species, A. lucorum adults reached peak abundance at the flowering stage, when the plant had the greatest attraction to the adults. More specifically, mean adult abundance on 26 species of major host plants and their relative standard attraction were 10.3–28.9 times and 9.3–19.5 times higher at flowering stage than during non-flowering periods, respectively. Among all the tested species, A. lucorum adults switched food plants according to the succession of flowering plant species. In early July, A. lucorum adults preferred some plant species in bloom, such as Vigna radiata, Gossypium hirsutum, Helianthus annuus and Chrysanthemum coronarium; since late July, adults dispersed into other flowering hosts (e.g. Ricinus communis, Impatiens balsamina, Humulus scandens, Ocimum basilicum, Agastache rugosus and Coriandrum sativum); in early September, they largely migrated to flowering Artemisia spp. (e.g. A. argyi, A. lavandulaefolia, A. annua and A. scoparia). Our findings underscore the important role of flowering plays in the population dynamics and inter-plant migration of this mirid bug. Also, our work helps understand evolutionary aspects of host plant use in polyphagous insects such as A. lucorum, and provides baseline information for the development of sustainable management strategies of this key agricultural pest.

Apolygus lucorum (Hemiptera: Miridae) is an important insect pest of cotton and fruit trees in China. The adults prefer host plants at the flowering stage, and their populations track flowering plants both spatially and temporally. In this study, we examine whether flower preference of its adults is mediated by plant volatiles, and which volatile compositions play an important role in attracting them. In olfactometer tests with 18 key host species, the adults preferred flowering plants over non-flowering plants of each species. Coupled gas chromatography-electroantennography revealed the presence of seven electrophysiologically active compounds from flowering plants. Although the adults responded to all seven synthetic plant volatiles in electroantennography tests, only four (m-xylene, butyl acrylate, butyl propionate and butyl butyrate) elicited positive behavioral responses in Y-tube olfactometer bioassays. The adults were strongly attracted to these four active volatiles in multi-year laboratory and field trials. Our results suggest that these four fragrant volatiles, which are emitted in greater amounts once plants begin to flower, mediate A. lucorum’s preference to flowering host plants. We proved that the use of commonly occurring plant volatiles to recognize a large range of plant species can facilitate host selection and preference of polyphagous insect herbivore.