Abstract
One of the most crucial problems in biological or biotechnical plant protection is the timing of starting an application. The proposed biosensor measuring overall degree of plant damage is a useful tool for solving the problem. If plants are damaged, for instance by cuts made artificially or by biting or chewing insects, volatile organic compounds (VOCs) will be released to a higher extent and in a different composition compared with undamaged plants. The biosensor based on an electroantennographic technique uses the sensitivity and selectivity of an insect's antenna to detect the changes in composition of the VOC. This method is comparatively simple, inexpensive and sensitive (e.g. 1 ppbv cis-3-hexen-1-ol, dynamic range: 1 ppbv-100 ppmv) with respect to usual mass-spectrometric methods of VOC trace analysis. Moreover, the response time (10 ms) and the measurement cycle time (3 min) are short and the biosensor yields an overall parameter easier to deal with than complex mass-spectrometric data arrays. The lifetime of one antennal preparation, however, is 4 h and has to be improved. This paper presents results emerging from laboratory experiments with the Colorado potato beetle ( Leptinotarsa decemlineata Say).
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