Abstract
The chemical ecology of the parasitoid Acerophagus papayae Noyes and Schauff was studied with Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry (GC-MS) volatiles analysis. The biochemical constituents and secondary metabolites in the host plant leaves revealed variation in influencing the growth and development of papaya mealybug Paracoccus marginatus Williams and Granara de Willink, which indirectly influenced the parasitoid efficiency too. Healthy and infested leaves of papaya and tapioca were analysed for the released volatile compounds (VOCs), and identified with GC-MS. It was observed that the VOCs like octanol, isocaryophyllene, hexadecane, pentadecane, heptadecane, morphinan and octasiloxane might probably attract the mealybug for sustained feeding in papaya. In tapioca, heptane, pyran, a-ocimene, octadien-3-ol, decane, butylated hydroxytoluene and dibutyl phthalate (DBP) were observed as probable reasons for repelling or prohibiting the mealybug from feeding.
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