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Behavioral responses of Frankliniella occidentalis to floral volatiles combined with different background visual cues

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Abstract

The Western flower thrips, Frankliniella occidentalis (Thysanoptera: Thripidae), is one of the most destructive sucking pests of flowering plants. We examined behavioral responses of F. occidentalis adults to the floral volatiles of Rosa chinensis, Gardenia jasminoides, and Tagetes erecta in a Y-tube olfactometer with background visual cues (green, red, white, yellow, and blue backgrounds). The results show that F. occidentalis adults had similar responses under all the different background colors, but the responses by sex varied significantly when offered floral volatile or clean air. In pairings of floral volatiles, female F. occidentalis adults presented significant preferences (R. chinensis > G. jasminoides > T. erecta) in each treatment, while male F. occidentalis adults had no significant preference. Furthermore, the responses of female F. occidentalis adults to the three different floral volatiles compared with each other were greater under green and blue backgrounds than red, white, or yellow backgrounds. However, the responses of male F. occidentalis adults to floral volatiles were similar to all five backgrounds. These results indicate that female thrips could discriminate different floral volatiles, while male thrips could not. Both male and female thrips performed steady preferences of floral volatiles under all the five visual backgrounds, and the behavioral responses of female thrips to the floral volatiles could be enhanced under the green and blue backgrounds. These findings could hopefully aid in the development of effective trapping and monitoring strategies for this pest.

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Acknowledgements

This research was financially supported by the Provincial Key & Special Subject of Guizhou Province–Ecology (No. ZDXK[2015]11), the training project for high-level innovative talents in Guizhou Province (No. 2016[4020]), and the Natural Science Foundation of Guizhou Province (No. [2014]7704).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. The Provincial Key Laboratory for Agricultural Pest Management of Mountainous Region, Institute of Entomology, Guizhou University, Guiyang, 550025, Guizhou, People’s Republic of China

    Yu Cao, Junrui Zhi & Runzhi Zhang

  2. Department of Biology and Engineering of Environment, Guiyang University, Guiyang, 550005, Guizhou, People’s Republic of China

    Yu Cao, Can Li, Chun Wang & Baozhen Shang

  3. Key Laboratory of Zoological Systematics and Evolution, Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100101, People’s Republic of China

    Runzhi Zhang

  4. State Key Laboratory for Biology of Plant Diseases and Insect Pests, Institute of Plant Protection, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Beijing, 100193, People’s Republic of China

    Yulin Gao

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  1. Yu Cao
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  2. Junrui Zhi
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  3. Can Li
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  4. Runzhi Zhang
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  6. Baozhen Shang
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  7. Yulin Gao
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Correspondence to Runzhi Zhang or Yulin Gao.

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Cao, Y., Zhi, J., Li, C. et al. Behavioral responses of Frankliniella occidentalis to floral volatiles combined with different background visual cues. Arthropod-Plant Interactions 12, 31–39 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11829-017-9549-x

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11829-017-9549-x

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