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Common volatiles are major attractants for neonate larvae of the specialist flea beetle Altica koreana (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae)

Naturwissenschaften volume 95, Article number: 639 (2008) Cite this article

Abstract

Olfactory stimuli play an important role in the host searching of larval phytophagous insects. Previous studies indicate that larvae that have to find feeding sites after hatching are generally attracted to host volatiles. However, there are few studies on the olfactory responses of neonate larvae to host volatiles in cases when those larvae hatched on the host plant. In the present study, we determined the olfactory responses of neonate larvae of the specialist flea beetle, Altica koreana Ogloblin, to host and six non-host plants, using a static-air “arena.” Larvae responded significantly to the host plant Potentilla chinensis Ser. and five of six non-host plants, compared to the control. Larvae did not prefer the host plant over the non-host plants (except Artemisia sp.) when offered a choice. Additionally, odours of a non-host plant, which were unattractive to neonate larvae, may have masked the attractive odour of the host plant. These results indicate that common volatiles can play a major role in attracting larvae of this specialist to plants, but attraction to such odours may not be the major mechanism of host choice.

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Acknowledgements

We would like to thank Dr. Peter Landolt (USDA-ARS, Yakima Agricultural Research Laboratory), Dr. Martijn Egas (Department of Population Biology, University of Amsterdam), Dr. Tatiana Czeschlik (Managing Editor) and four anonymous reviewers for revising the manuscript. We also wish to thank Mr. Wen-Zhu Li, Mr. Ming Bai, Mr. Zong-Zhao Zhai and Dr. Li-Jie Zhang for field assistance, and Mr. Xue-Zhong Zhang and Mr. Shu-Yong Wang for assistance on beetle rearing. This study was supported by National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 30330100).

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  1. Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Datun Road, Chaoyang District, Beijing, 100101, China

    Huai-Jun Xue & Xing-Ke Yang

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  1. Huai-Jun Xue
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  2. Xing-Ke Yang
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Correspondence to Xing-Ke Yang.

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Xue, HJ., Yang, XK. Common volatiles are major attractants for neonate larvae of the specialist flea beetle Altica koreana (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae). Naturwissenschaften 95, 639 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00114-008-0367-y

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00114-008-0367-y

Keywords

  • Leaf volatiles
  • Monophagous
  • Olfactory responses
  • Neonate larvae
  • Host plant