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An Attractant of the Aphidophagous Gall Midge Aphidoletes aphidimyza From Honeydew of Aphis gossypii

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Abstract

Many natural enemies of insects use honeydew as a volatile cue to locate hosts or prey, as an oviposition stimulant, and as an arrestant for foraging. The aphidophagous gall midge Aphidoletes aphidimyza (Rondani) (Diptera: Cecidomyiidae) has predacious larval stages and can be used to control aphid populations, especially in greenhouses. Previous studies have shown that the honeydew, excreted by the aphid Myzus persicae, attracts A. aphidimyza, but the crucial attractants have not been identified. Using an olfactometer, we studied behavioral responses of female A. aphidimyza to volatiles emitted from honeydew excreted by the aphid Aphis gossypii on eggplants. The volatiles attracted female midges and induced oviposition. Moreover, using gas chromatography coupled with mass spectrometry (GC/MS), we identified phenylacetaldehyde as the attractant compound in the honeydew, although it did not induce oviposition in olfactometer experiments.

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Acknowledgments

We thank Dr. Ikuo Kandori of Kinki University for advice. We also thank Tetsurou Sadakane, Marina Okamura, Takahito Watanabe, Masaki Kamite, and Michifumi Doi of Kinki University for technical assistance. This work was supported by a grant from the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries of Japan (research and development projects for application in promoting new policy of agriculture, forestry and fisheries, 2021).

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Correspondence to Eizi Yano.

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Hiroshi Watanabe and Keita Higashida contributed equally to this work.

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Watanabe, H., Yano, E., Higashida, K. et al. An Attractant of the Aphidophagous Gall Midge Aphidoletes aphidimyza From Honeydew of Aphis gossypii . J Chem Ecol 42, 149–155 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10886-016-0666-2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10886-016-0666-2

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