Chemical Composition and Behavioral Effects of Five Plant Essential Oils on the Green Pea Aphid Acyrthosiphon pisum (Harris) (Homoptera: Aphididae)

Abstract

Essential oils (EOs) from Schinus molle, Helichrysum gymnocephalum, Cedrelopsis grevei and Melaleuca viridiflora, four aromatic and medicinal plants, are commonly used in folk medicine. EOs were characterized by gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (GC/MS) and quantified by gas chromatography-flame ionization detection (GC-FID); then evaluated for their behavioral effects on adults of the green pea aphid Acyrthosiphon pisum (Harris) using a Perspex four-armed olfactometer in order to test the compatibility of their use as phytoinsecticides to control this insect pest. Our results showed that the EOs from the leaves of S. molle, M. viridiflora and C. grevei did not change aphids' behavior. However, S. molle fruits EO seemed to be attractive while H. gymnocephalum leaves EO exhibited repellency towards aphids at a dose of 10 μl. The major compounds in S. molle fruits EO were 6-epi-shyobunol (16.22%) and d-limonene (15.35%). While, in H. gymnocephalum leaves EO, 1,8-cineole was the main compound (47.4%). The difference in aphids' responses to these two EOs could be attributed to the differences in their compositions. Our findings suggest that these two EOs have potential applications for the integrated pest management of A. pisum (Harris).

Repellence of Myzus persicae (Sulzer): evidence of two modes of action of volatiles from selected living aromatic plants

“…Contrary to other studies, our findings demonstrated that none of the headspace volatiles from L. latifolia , M. piperita or R. officinalis plants exhibited significant negative effects against M. persicae . Differences between results were probably related to qualitative (presence/absence of specific VOCs) and quantitative variations among the chemical composition of volatiles perceived by aphids . Variations in volatile profiles of the same plant species can be related to genetic differences and to various biotic and abiotic factors linked to plant nutritional status, stress conditions, and phenological stages .…”

“…Scientists have put great effort into understanding CP volatile effects on pests. The properties of plant VOCs against aphids, such us repellency, have been frequently discussed in previous studies . In contrast, as it is difficult to monitor whole‐system experiments, few studies were focused on their mode of action or on the underlying mechanisms …”

Behavioral and antennal responses of Lobesia botrana (Lepidoptera: Tortricidae) to volatiles from the non-host plant Schinus molle L. (Anacardiaceae)

“…Moreover, its essential oil, mainly from leaves and fruits, has revealed insecticidal and repellent activity to several pests (Wimalaratne et al, 1996;Benzi et al, 2009;Abdel-Sattar et al, 2010;Huerta et al, 2010). Schinus molle essential oil (EO) from fruits was an attractant to Acyrthosiphon pisum (Homoptera: Aphididae) (Kasmi et al, 2017), and the EO obtained from leaves was repellent to Blatta orientalis (Blattodea: Blatidae) (Deveci et al, 2010).…”

Host Selection Behavior of the Green Peach Aphid, Myzus persicae, in Response to Volatile Organic Compounds and Nitrogen Contents of Cabbage Cultivars

“…It has been recognized that aphids use their antennae to detect odor emitted by their host plants, which could influence their acceptance of host plants (Picket et al, 1992; Storer et al, 1996). The host plant searching behavior of the bean black aphid, Aphis fabae Scopoli, was affected by15 chemical compounds (Webster et al, 2008a,b; Webster et al, 2012), while the wingless aphids responded to 11 different compounds (Kasmi et al, 2017). We have identified 19 important chemical compounds that showed significant differences among the cabbage cultivars, but 13 compounds showed significant differences among highly attractive and repellent cultivars.…”