Abstract
While carnivores are known to be attracted to herbivore-induced plant volatiles, little is known about how such volatiles may affect the behaviour of omnivorous predators that may use both plants and herbivores as food. Here, we examine how systemically produced plant volatiles, in response to local herbivore damage, differentially attract a key omnivorous predator, Anthocoris nemorum (Heteroptera: Anthocoridae), to single clones of three species of Salix: S. viminalis, S. dasyclados and S. cinerea. The profiles of the plant volatiles produced were found to vary among Salix clones and between herbivore-damaged and intact plants. Anthocoris nemorum was attracted to the volatiles released from undamaged plants of all three species, but most strongly to a native S. cinerea clone. Plants damaged by the herbivorous leaf beetle Phratora vulgatissima (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae) were generally more attractive than undamaged plants, with A. nemorum responding to systemic changes in the damaged plants where the experimental design specifically excluded volatiles released from the actual site of damage. When comparing damaged plants, the S. dasyclados clone was more attractive to A. nemorum than the S. viminalis clone-a somewhat surprising result since this Salix clone is considered relatively resistant to P. vulgatissima, and hence offers a limited amount of prey. Our experiments highlight that both constitutive and induced plant volatiles play a role in omnivore attraction, and this emphasizes the importance of considering odours of released volatiles when cropping and breeding Salix for increased resistance to herbivores.
Highlights
The abundance of herbivores on a plant is determined directly by plant traits and natural enemies, and indirectly by the effects of plant traits on the natural enemies of the herbivore (Takabayashi et al 1991; Halitschke et al 2000; Dicke 2009)
The S. dasyclados clone was more attractive to A. nemorum than the S. viminalis clone—a somewhat surprising result since this Salix clone is considered relatively resistant to P. vulgatissima, and offers a limited amount of prey
We examined the attraction of A. nemorum, an omnivorous anthocorid predator, to plant volatiles released from three contrasting Salix clones that differ in suitability to P. vulgatissima
Summary
The abundance of herbivores on a plant is determined directly by plant traits (bottom-up) and natural enemies (top-down), and indirectly by the effects of plant traits on the natural enemies of the herbivore (Takabayashi et al 1991; Halitschke et al 2000; Dicke 2009). In order to make use of a herbivore’s natural enemies in a biocontrol programme, it is necessary to know how the enemies respond to the volatiles released by a specific plant species or cultivar. Stenberg et al 2007; Halitschke et al 2008), recent studies have shown that omnivorous predatory mites (Zhong et al 2011) and ladybirds (Glinwood et al 2009), which gain nutrition from various plant products, respond to plant volatiles in their search for prey. Some wellstudied omnivorous bugs in the genus Geocoris can consume lepidopteran eggs from wild tobacco, which would otherwise develop into larvae, a single one of which can consume the entire plant before any seeds are produced (Halitschke et al 2008)
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