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Response of Wild Spotted Wing Drosophila (Drosophila suzukii) to Microbial Volatiles

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Abstract

The olfactory cues used by various animals to detect and identify food items often include volatile organic compounds (VOCs) produced by food-associated microorganisms. Microbial VOCs have potential as lures to trap animal pests, including insect crop pests. This study investigated microorganisms whose VOCs are attractive to natural populations of the spotted wing drosophila (SWD), an invasive insect pest of ripening fruits. The microorganisms readily cultured from wild SWD and SWD-infested fruits included yeasts, especially Hanseniaspora species, and various bacteria, including Proteobacteria (especially Acetobacteraceae and Enterobacteriaceae) and Actinobacteria. Traps in a raspberry planting that were baited with cultures of Hanseniaspora uvarum, H. opuntiae and the commercial lure Scentry trapped relatively high numbers of both SWD and non-target drosophilids. The VOCs associated with these baits were dominated by ethyl acetate and, for yeasts, other esters. By contrast, Gluconobacter species (Acetobacteraceae), whose VOCs were dominated by acetic acid and acetoin and lacked detectable ethyl acetate, trapped 60–75% fewer SWD but with very high selectivity for SWD. VOCs of two other taxa tested, the yeast Pichia sp. and Curtobacterium sp. (Actinobacteria), trapped very few SWD or other insects. Our demonstration of among-microbial variation in VOCs and their attractiveness to SWD and non-pest insects under field conditions provides the basis for improved design of lures for SWD management. Further research is required to establish how different microbial VOC profiles may function as reliable cues of habitat suitability for fly feeding and oviposition, and how this variation maps onto among-insect species differences in habitat preference.

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Acknowledgements

We thank Alyssa Bost for help with gut dissections, Gabrielle Brind Amour who assisted with field assessment, Francoise Vermeylen and Dong Ho Cha for statistical advice, Wendy Kozlowski for data archiving at eCommons, and Dara Stockton who prepared Fig. 1. This research was funded by NIFA grant NYC-191404.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Entomology, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY, 14853, USA

    Eduardo Bueno, John G. Mcmullen II & Angela E. Douglas

  2. School of Integrative Plant Science, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY, 14853, USA

    Kyle R. Martin

  3. Department of Neurobiology and Behavior, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY, 14853, USA

    Robert A. Raguso

  4. Department of Entomology, Cornell University, Geneva, NY, 14456, USA

    Stephen P. Hesler & Greg M. Loeb

  5. Department of Molecular Biology and Genetics, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY, 14853, USA

    Angela E. Douglas

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  1. Eduardo Bueno
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  7. Angela E. Douglas
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Contributions

The study was designed by AED, GML and RAR. The microbiology was conducted EB and JGM, the field experiments by SH and GML, and the VOC analysis by KRM and RAR. All authors contributed to writing the manuscript.

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Correspondence to Angela E. Douglas.

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Bueno, E., Martin, K.R., Raguso, R.A. et al. Response of Wild Spotted Wing Drosophila (Drosophila suzukii) to Microbial Volatiles. J Chem Ecol 46, 688–698 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10886-019-01139-4

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10886-019-01139-4

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