Herbivore damage and mechanical injury to leaves can stimulate the emission of volatile compounds. It is well known that emission of these volatile organic compounds (VOC) from plants can influence interactions with pests and their natural enemies. In our experiment, we studied the VOC responses of Triticum aestivum cv. ‘Bombona’, Avena sativa cv. ‘Deresz’ and Hordeum vulgare cv. ‘Rastik’ under mechanical injury and/or adult cereal leaf beetle herbivory, Oelema melanopus (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae). In the first part of our experiment, we confirmed that increased amounts of several green leaf volatiles (GLVs) and terpene VOC were released by tested cereal plants after leaf injury. The quantities of multiple induced VOC varied significantly between our tested cereals. When undamaged wheat, barley and oat plants were positioned near to mechanically injured or insect‐damaged wheat plants, these neighbouring uninjured plants of all three test cereals also emitted significantly more VOC than control plants. The degree of VOC induction was significantly greater when an uninjured plant was closer to an injured wheat plant. This phenomenon may be useful for crop protection, as VOC manipulation may result in improved pest management and help reduce the use of harmful pesticides.

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We report on changes in the volatiles emitted by wheat plants of the cultivar ‘Tonacja’ after the plants were scraped, pierced or damaged by adults of Oulema melanopus (Linnaeus). The blend of volatiles was dominated by typical green leaf volatiles and in addition contained linalool and B-caryophyllene, but the latter two were released in large amounts only after more than one day of insect feeding. Overall, the plants that had been damaged by the insect released more odors than the plants that were subjected to mechanical damage. Moreover, control plants released significantly lower amounts of volatiles. Scraping of leaves induced higher volatile emission than puncturing the leaves. A Y-tube bioassay was used to evaluate upwind orientation ofadult cereal leafbeetles. Greater number of female 0. melanopus was attracted to (Z)-3-hexenal and (Z)-3 -hexenyl acetate at low concentrations. Higher concentration of these compounds and linalool significantly repelled both females and males.