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Flight responses of Sitotroga cerealella (Lepidoptera: Gelechiidae) to corn kernel volatiles in a wind tunnel

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Abstract

The flight behavioral responses of males and females of Sitotroga cerealella (Lepidoptera: Gelechiidae) to corn kernel volatiles, in a wind tunnel, and the determination and identification of the active compounds of corn kernel volatiles were investigated. A wind tunnel bioassay was carried out to test the response of males and females to 15, 30, 60, and 120 g equivalents of corn kernel volatiles. Gas chromatography-electroantennography was used to determine which components in corn kernel volatiles elicited an EAD response using male and female antennae. Gas chromatography-mass spectrometry technique was used to identify the active compounds of corn kernel volatiles. A 60-g equivalent of corn kernel volatiles elicited attractant behavior of unmated males to landing near the source. Mated males and virgin females were not attracted to corn kernel volatiles. The number of mated females landing was significantly higher in 60- and 120-g equivalents of corn kernel volatiles, compared to the other concentrations and the control. The antennae of males and females responded to four active compounds of corn kernel volatiles. Three of these compounds were identified, namely nonanal, decanal, and geranyl acetone. It is suggested that host finding and selection by S. cerealella is associated with its host volatiles.

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Acknowledgments

We thank Prof. Antônio Jacinto Demuner from the Department of Chemistry of the UFV for his assistance in the gas chromatography-mass spectrometer analysis. An important part of this work would not have been carried out without his help. This research could not have been done without the assistance of Dr. Salwa A. Boshra, Biological Applications Department, Nuclear Research Centre, Atomic Energy Authority, Cairo, Egypt, who taught us to separate males from females of S. cerealella at the pupal stage. We thank him very much. Special acknowledgments to the “National Council for Scientific and Technological Development” (CNPq) and “The Academy of Sciences for the Developing World” (TWAS) for their intellectual contributions and financial support in this research.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Departamento de Entomologia, Universidade Federal de Viçosa, Viçosa, Minas Gerais, Brazil

    Evaldo Ferreira Vilela & Eraldo Rodrigues de Lima

  2. Departamento de Engenharia Agrícola, Universidade Federal de Viçosa, Campus Universitário, Avenida P.H. Rolfs, s/n, Viçosa, 36571-000, Minas Gerais, Brazil

    Lêda Rita D’Antonino Faroni

  3. Plant Protection Department, Faculty of Agriculture, Sohag University, Sohag, Egypt

    Hany Ahmed Fouad

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  1. Hany Ahmed Fouad
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  2. Lêda Rita D’Antonino Faroni
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  3. Evaldo Ferreira Vilela
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  4. Eraldo Rodrigues de Lima
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Correspondence to Lêda Rita D’Antonino Faroni.

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Fouad, H.A., Faroni, L.R.D., Vilela, E.F. et al. Flight responses of Sitotroga cerealella (Lepidoptera: Gelechiidae) to corn kernel volatiles in a wind tunnel. Arthropod-Plant Interactions 7, 651–658 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11829-013-9275-y

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