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Electrophysiologically-Active Maize Volatiles Attract Gravid Female European Corn Borer, Ostrinia nubilalis

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Abstract

The European corn borer (ECB) is an important pest of maize in the northern hemisphere, but no reliable techniques exist for monitoring females during their reproductive period. In this study, we aimed to identify host-plant volatiles used by gravid Z-strain females in search for oviposition sites. Headspace of maize plants, to which gravid females orientated in a wind tunnel, was collected, and physiologically-active components were identified by using gas chromatography (GC) coupled with electroantennographic detection followed by GC-mass spectrometry. The antennae of female moths consistently responded to two maize volatiles, nonanal and decanal. Although these compounds are individually not characteristic for maize, a synthetic mix in a ratio found in maize headspace, 1:2.4 at 1 μg μl−1 induced source contact and landing responses similar to maize plants in the wind tunnel. However, fewer females took flight in response to the mix, and those that took flight did so with an increased latency. To our knowledge, this is the first blend of host-plant volatiles that has been found to be physiologically active and to be able to induce attraction of gravid ECB females under laboratory conditions. Future tests will evaluate the attractiveness of the blend to the E-strain of ECB, the attractiveness of the blend in the field, and its potential in monitoring ECB populations.

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Acknowledgments

We thank Gábor Bozsik and Gábor Szőcs for providing initial insects and helping to maintain the laboratory population. We also are grateful to Daniel Veit for designing the wind tunnel. We thank Shannon B. Olsson for constructive scientific discussions and comments on earlier versions of the manuscript. This study was supported by the Hungarian Scientific Research Fund (OTKA, PD1041310), the Marie Curie Career Integration Grant (PCIG12-GA-2012-333980) and the János Bolyai Research Scholarship of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences to ZK. During the study ZT was supported by the ‘Lendület’ programme of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences (MTA, LP2012-24/2012), a Hungarian Scientific Research Fund grant (OTKA, PD108938) and the MTA postdoctoral research program (SZ-029/2013).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Zoology Department, Plant Protection Institute, Centre for Agricultural Research, Hungarian Academy of Sciences, Budapest, Hungary

    Béla Péter Molnár, Alexandra Fejes-Tóth & Zsolt Kárpáti

  2. Lendület Evolutionary Ecology Research Group, Plant Protection Institute, Hungarian Academy of Sciences, Budapest, Hungary

    Zoltán Tóth

  3. Department of Plant Protection Biology, Division of Chemical Ecology, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Alnarp, Sweden

    Teun Dekker

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  1. Béla Péter Molnár
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  2. Zoltán Tóth
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  3. Alexandra Fejes-Tóth
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  4. Teun Dekker
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  5. Zsolt Kárpáti
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Correspondence to Zsolt Kárpáti.

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Béla Péter Molnár, Zoltán Tóth and Alexandra Fejes-Tóth contributed equally to this work.

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Molnár, B.P., Tóth, Z., Fejes-Tóth, A. et al. Electrophysiologically-Active Maize Volatiles Attract Gravid Female European Corn Borer, Ostrinia nubilalis . J Chem Ecol 41, 997–1005 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10886-015-0640-4

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