Responses of the black bean aphid, Aphis fabae, to a non-host plant volatile in laboratory and field

Abstract

Plant-produced volatile chemicals are known to influence host location and selection behaviour by aphids (Pickett et al., 1992). Coupled gas chromatography and single cell recording techniques have shown that sensory cells in the proximal primary rhinarium of winged virginoparous Aphis fabae Scopoli respond to alkenyl isothiocyanates (Nottingham et al., 1991), although these compounds are not found in the aphid’s host plants. 4Pentenyl isothiocyanate was electrophysiologically the most potent. In the same study, behavioural bioassays showed that this chemical repels A. fabae. The present report explores the behavioural response of the aphid to specific amounts of 4-pentenyl isothiocyanate in olfactometer bioassays and tests the effectiveness of a chemical slow release formulation under field conditions.