Volatile emissions from the flea beetle Altica litigata (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae) associated with invasive Ludwigia hexapetala

Abstract

The flea beetle Altica litigata (Chrysomelidae) is an insect herbivore to plants within the families Lythraceae and Onagraceae, including ornamentals such as crape myrtle, Lagerstroemia spp. This insect is important both as a pest species and as a naturally occurring biological control agent due to its aggregate feeding behavior, which typically results in severe defoliation of the host plant. Despite the negative economic impact to ornamentals and contrary benefits as a biological control agent, there are few reports on the semiochemical communication of this family of insects. Uruguayan primrose-willow (Ludwigia hexapetala) is an invasive aquatic weed in California and serves as a host to A. litigata. To better characterize this association, the volatile emissions of A. litigata were collected while the flea beetles were: in containers by themselves, in containers with L. hexapetala leaves, in situ on L. hexapetala leaves in a growth chamber, and in situ on L. hexapetala leaves in the field. For comparison, the volatile emissions of A. litigata associated with two subspecies of creeping water primrose (L. peploides) were also evaluated. Two himachalene-type sesquiterpenes, showing the same carbon skeleton as compounds previously reported from Aphthona flava and Epitrix fuscula, were detected as volatiles from A. litigata.

Attraction of the potential biocontrol agent Altica cyanea by volatile compounds of three species of Ludwigia weeds from rice fields

“…This study corroborates that the VOC profiles from plants can vary within the genus Ludwigia (Carruthers et al, 2011;Roitman et al, 2011;Mukherjee et al, 2015;Sarkar et al, 2016). Carruthers et al (2011) reported that profiles of VOCs in subspecies of Ludwigia peploides (Kunth) PH Raven ssp. peploides and montevidensis were similar, and among the eight sesquiterpenes, a-copaene, c-muurolene, and d-cadinene were predominant in both subspecies.…”

A success story: water primroses, aquatic plant pests

“…There are also many morphological synapomorphies for all of the Onagraceae except Ludwigia (Levin et al ., ). In France, the herkogamous flowers are intensely visited by many insect pollinators so Ludwigia may also contain potential attractants for some insects (Carruthers et al ., ). For example, in California L. peploides produces and emits a total of eight sesquiterpenes, and L. grandiflora provides a number of monoterpenes in relatively large quantities in addition to several sesquiterpenes in lower amounts (Carruthers et al ., ).…”

An Overview of Plant Volatile Metabolomics, Sample Treatment and Reporting Considerations with Emphasis on Mechanical Damage and Biological Control of Weeds

“…For instance, our laboratories have utilised SPME fibres for the collection of static headspace volatiles from plant parts enclosed in customised Teflon® bags as well as purge and trap systems with Tenax® to: analyse host‐plant volatiles for potential attractants for the insect pest navel orangeworm (Beck et al ., , ); determine host‐plant volatile emissions from the invasive weed Ludwigia spp. as well as the insect emissions of a potential biocontrol agent Altica litigata (Carruthers et al ., ); and to evaluate possible chemotaxonomical volatiles from several invasive weeds (Beck et al ., ; Smith and Beck, ). As mentioned above, there are a number of instruments and detectors available for volatile analyses; however, the most commonly employed is the bench‐top GC–MS, which has acceptable detection capabilities for most applications.…”