Abstract
The objective of this study was to identify the aggregation pheromone of the melon thrips Thrips palmi, a major pest of vegetable and ornamental plants around the world. The species causes damage both through feeding activities and as a vector of tospoviruses, and is a threat to world trade and European horticulture. Improved methods of detecting and controlling this species are needed and the identification of an aggregation pheromone will contribute to this requirement. Bioassays with a Y-tube olfactometer showed that virgin female T. palmi were attracted to the odour of live males, but not to that of live females, and that mixed-age adults of both sexes were attracted to the odour of live males, indicating the presence of a male-produced aggregation pheromone. Examination of the headspace volatiles of adult male T. palmi revealed only one compound that was not found in adult females. It was identified by comparison of its mass spectrum and chromatographic details with those of similar compounds. This compound had a structure like that of the previously identified male-produced aggregation pheromone of the western flower thrips Frankliniella occidentalis. The compound was synthesised and tested in eggplant crops infested with T. palmi in Japan. Significantly greater numbers of both males and females were attracted to traps baited with the putative aggregation pheromone compared to unbaited traps. The aggregation pheromone of T. palmi is thus identified as (R)-lavandulyl 3-methyl-3-butenoate by spectroscopic, chromatographic and behavioural analysis.
Highlights
Thrips are small insects, typically only 1–2 mm long, belonging to the order Thysanoptera
This paper presents the first identification of an aggregation pheromone in the genus Thrips
Aggregation pheromones, which have been confirmed in two different genera, may be more widespread in this commercially important group of insects than was previously recognised
Summary
Typically only 1–2 mm long, belonging to the order Thysanoptera. The western flower thrips Frankliniella occidentalis (Pergande) [1,2] and Frankliniella intonsa (Trybom) [3] have male-produced aggregation pheromones that are attractive to both female and male conspecifics. Mate, and leave immediately, so both sexes arrive at the aggregations, they contain predominantly males [4]. The aggregation pheromone is probably used by males and females to locate these mating aggregations [2]. In F. occidentalis, the pheromone has been tested in the field and identified as a single component, the monoterpene ester neryl (S)-2-methylbutanoate (N(S) MB) [2]. In F. intonsa the aggregation pheromone may be a two-component mix of N(S) MB with (R)-lavandulyl acetate ((R)LA) [3], but the effects of synthetic compounds have not yet been tested
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