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Olfactory Cues, Visual Cues, and Semiochemical Diversity Interact During Host Location by Invasive Forest Beetles

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Abstract

Plant-feeding insects use visual and olfactory cues (shape, color, plant volatiles) for host location, but the relative importance of different cues and interactions with non-host-plant volatiles in ecosystems of varying plant biodiversity is unclear for most species. We studied invasive bark beetles and wood borers associated with pine trees to characterize interactions among color, host and non-host volatiles, by employing traps that mimic tree trunks. Cross-vane flight intercept traps (black, green, red, white, yellow, clear) and black funnel traps were used with and without attractants (α-pinene + ethanol), repellents (non-host green leaf volatiles, ‘GLV’), and attractant/repellent combinations in four pine forests in New Zealand. We trapped 274,594 Hylurgus ligniperda, 7842 Hylastes ater, and 16,301 Arhopalus ferus. Trap color, attractant, and color × attractant effects were highly significant. Overall, black and red traps had the highest catches, irrespective of the presence of attractants. Alpha-pinene plus ethanol increased trap catch of H. ligniperda 200-fold but only 6-fold for H. ater and 2-fold for A. ferus. Green leaf volatiles had a substantial repellent effect on trap catch of H. ligniperda but less on H. ater and A. ferus. Attack by H. ligniperda was halved when logs were treated with GLV, and a similar effect was observed when logs were placed among broadleaved understory shrubs emitting GLV. Overall, H. ligniperda was most strongly affected by the olfactory cues used, whereas H. ater and A. ferus were more strongly affected by visual cues. Collectively, the results support the semiochemical diversity hypothesis, indicating that non-host plant volatiles from diverse plant communities or artificial dispensers can contribute to resistance against herbivores by partly disrupting host location.

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Acknowledgments

We thank Dave Brockerhoff, Belinda Gresham, David Henley, Sebastian Horvath, James McCarthy, Stephen Pawson, Michelle Watson, and the late Colleen Carlson for assistance with field or laboratory work, Nelson Forests, Hancock Forest Management, and Selwyn Plantation Board for access to field sites, and Nadir Erbilgin and two anonymous reviewers for comments on the manuscript. Funding for this study was obtained from the New Zealand government [MBIE core funding to Scion (C04X1104) and a Tertiary Education Commission Scholarship (TEC 3101)].

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Scion (New Zealand Forest Research Institute), Christchurch, New Zealand

    Jessica L. Kerr & Eckehard G. Brockerhoff

  2. University of Canterbury, School of Biological Sciences, Centre for Integrative Ecology, Christchurch, New Zealand

    Jessica L. Kerr, Dave Kelly & Eckehard G. Brockerhoff

  3. Scion (New Zealand Forest Research Institute), Rotorua, New Zealand

    Martin K.-F. Bader

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  1. Jessica L. Kerr
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  2. Dave Kelly
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  4. Eckehard G. Brockerhoff
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Correspondence to Eckehard G. Brockerhoff.

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Kerr, J.L., Kelly, D., Bader, M.KF. et al. Olfactory Cues, Visual Cues, and Semiochemical Diversity Interact During Host Location by Invasive Forest Beetles. J Chem Ecol 43, 17–25 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10886-016-0792-x

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10886-016-0792-x

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