Induced defence in detached uninfested plant leaves: effects on behaviour of herbivores and their predators.

Abstract

Induction of plant defence against herbivores may include the attraction by volatile infochemicals of natural enemies of the herbivore. The emitted volatiles that mediate this attraction may also affect the behaviour of the herbivore itself. In this paper we investigate the response of the herbivorous spider miteTetranychus urticae and the predatory mitePhytoseiulus persimilis towards volatiles whose production is induced in detached Lima bean leaves. Detached uninfested Lima bean leaves were incubated on wet cotton wool on which bean leaves infested with spider mites (T. urticae) were present simultaneously or had been present previously. These treatments induce the production of volatile infochemicals in the uninfested bean leaf tissue: predatory mites are attracted and spider mites are deterred. These are the first data on the response of predators and herbivores to plant volatiles whose production was induced in detached uninfested leaves.