Electrophysiological and oviposition responses of Asian corn borer, Ostrinia furnacalis (Lepidoptera: Crambidae), to compounds rinsed from the surfaces of sugarcane and maize leaves

Abstract

Abstract. The Asian corn borer, Ostrinia furnacalis, is one of the most important pests of maize (Zea mays) in China. However, the mechanism by which intercropping sugarcane (Saccharum officinarum) and maize controls this pest via compounds rinsed from leaf surfaces is still unclear. Electrophysiological and oviposition responses of the Asian corn borer to compounds rinsed from leaf surfaces of sugarcane and maize were studied. Coupled gas chromatographic-electroantennographic detection (GC-EAD) analyses revealed that O. furnacalis responds to 21 compounds, which are present in both the compounds rinsed from leaf surfaces of sugarcane and maize. The effects of these compounds in concentrations of 5 × 10 -3 g/mL or 5 × 10 -4 g/mL on female oviposition behaviour were tested. They were attracted to oviposit on substrates coated with most of the test compounds, except nonanal. It is suggested that the compounds from the leaf surfaces of sugarcane induced O. furnacalis females to oviposit because most of them are similar to maize's leaf surface compounds, which results in a reduction in the number of egg masses laid on maize leaves.

Effects of water stress on plant volatile emission and insect oviposition preference in an agroecosystem

“…Besides, linalool can also attract the natural enemies of herbivorous insects (Magalhães et al, 2019). Some of the observed volatile compounds emitted by maize leaves have previously been identified as oviposition attractants for O. furnacalis (Jiang et al, 2015). For example, adult female O. furnacalis deposited fewer eggs on wax paper treated with (E)-2-hexenal or (Z)-3-hexen-1-ol, but not for β-caryophyllene (Huang et al, 2009).…”

The Efficiency of Pest Control Options against Two Major Sweet Corn Ear Pests in China

“…We observed that the peak of insect pest density was highly correlated with the phenological stage of corn, which occurred during the silking stage of sweet corn when volatile production in corn is most appealing to lepidopterans. It has been reported that green leaf volatiles emitted by corn, including (Z) -3-Hexene-1-ol, (+)-Cyclosativene, β-Caryophyllene, could impact lepidopterans oviposition behavior on the host plant [23] [24], by attracting unmated Ostrinia nubilalis adults and Ostrinia furnacalis larvae [25]. Environmental elements and habitat conditions also correlated to the population dynamics of lepidopteran pests during the corn ear stage.…”