Abstract
We analysed electroantennogram (EAG) responses of male and female adults of the European grapevine moth Lobesia botrana (Denis et Schiffermüller) (Lepidoptera: Tortricidae) collected as larvae from grapevine (Vitis vinifera L.) and flax-leaved daphne (Daphne gnidium L.). The host-plant odorants tested were either V. vinifera-specific [1-octen-3-ol, (E)-β-farnesene, (E)-4,8-dimethyl-1,3,7-nonatriene], D. gnidium-specific (2-ethyl-hexan-1-ol, benzothiazole, linalool-oxide, ethyl benzanoate), or were shared by both host-plants (linalool, methyl salicylate). Sex pheromone compounds were also tested. The male response to the major pheromone component (E7,Z9-12:Ac) was higher than to any other stimuli, whereas the response to the minor pheromone components (E7,Z9-12:OH and Z9-12:Ac) was not different from the response to the plant odorants. The female response to pheromone was lower or not different from that to plant odorants. Methyl salicylate elicited a higher response in females and (E)-β-farnesene elicited a higher response than several other plant odorants in both sexes. Non-significant interactions between host-plant odorant and sex indicated an absence of sex specialization for host-plant volatile detection. The lack of a significant interaction between plant volatiles and larval host-plants suggested that there was no specialization for plant-volatile detection between V. vinifera and D. gnidium individuals.
Highlights
The European grapevine moth, Lobesia botrana (Denis et Schiffermüller) (Lepidoptera: Tortricidae), is one of the most important pest species affecting vines (Vitis vinifera L.) and is responsible for severe economic losses in the vineyards of the Palaearctic region [1]
Due to the small host-plant effect exhibited in Figure 1, the individuals from the two host plants are mixed, but in Figure S2 they are shown separately
This is common to most moth species and it is probably related to the presence of a larger number of sex-pheromone olfactory receptor neurons (ORNs) in males than in females [27]
Summary
The European grapevine moth, Lobesia botrana (Denis et Schiffermüller) (Lepidoptera: Tortricidae), is one of the most important pest species affecting vines (Vitis vinifera L.) and is responsible for severe economic losses in the vineyards of the Palaearctic region [1]. Western Asia and more recently the Americas (Chile, Argentina and the USA), making it a global grapevine pest [1,2]. Conventional control relies heavily on pesticide use, but the practice of using alternative environmentally-friendly methods has increased in recent decades. The use of semiochemicals—mainly sex pheromones and plant volatiles—in pest control is a promising tool [3]. The success of MD in the control of L. botrana has stimulated research on the response of males to its sex pheromone [4,5,6,7]. There is growing evidence that females detect and change their calling behaviour in response to conspecific pheromone
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