Abstract
The effects of induced plant responses on herbivores are categorised as direct, by reducing herbivore development, or indirect, by affecting the performance of natural enemies. Here, we investigated a tritrophic system, which included the herbivore Heortia vitessoides, its host plant Aquilaria sinensis, and its predator Cantheconidea concinna. Herbivore-damaged A. sinensis plants released significantly greater amounts of volatiles than undamaged and mechanically damaged plants, with an obvious temporal trend. One day after initial herbivore damage, A. sinensis plants released large amounts of volatile compounds. Volatile compounds release gradually decreased over the next 3 d. The composition and relative concentrations of the electroantennographic detection (EAD)-active compounds, emitted after herbivore damage, varied significantly over the 4-d measurement period. In wind tunnel bioassays, mated H. vitessoides females showed a preference for undamaged plants over herbivore and mechanically damaged A. sinensis plants. In Y-tube bioassays, C. concinna preferred odours from herbivore-damaged plants to those from undamaged plants, especially after the early stages of insect attack. Our results indicate that the herbivore-induced compounds produced in response to attack by H. vitessoides larvae on A. sinensis plants could be used by both the herbivores themselves and their natural enemies to locate suitable host plants and prey, respectively.
Highlights
Plants have developed various adaptive and defensive strategies against insect herbivory over the course of their long evolutionary history[1]
In a more recent study, we found that female adult oviposition on young A. sinensis leaves was reduced in response to damage caused by H. vitessoides larvae
In the volatile organic compounds (VOCs) profile of 1-day herbivore-damaged plants, the release of two classes of VOCs, green leaf volatiles (GLVs) and terpenoids, were obviously increased, which made up the bulk of VOCs after the initial 8 hr of caterpillar damage (Fig. 2C)
Summary
Plants have developed various adaptive and defensive strategies against insect herbivory over the course of their long evolutionary history[1]. Healthy plants normally release various volatile organic compounds (VOCs), which act as important signals for herbivores to locate host plants for oviposition and feeding[2,3,4]. HIPVs are more likely to be detected by herbivores, their natural enemies, and neighbouring plants compared to the VOCs released by healthy plants, because of the particular chemical constituents[6]. Su13 suggested that the young leaves of A. sinensis were the sole emitters of VOCs attractive to H. vitessoides females seeking oviposition sites. We previously identified and compared VOCs from young and old A. sinensis leaves that potentially attract H. vitessoides. The volatile signals from young A. sinensis leaves allowed H. vitessoides females to discriminate suitable larval hosts from the background chemical environment, and guided orientation of flights towards these plants for oviposition
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