Nocturnal plant bugs use cis-jasmone to locate inflorescences of an Araceae as feeding and mating site

Author(s)
Florian Etl, Andreas Berger, Anton Weber, Jürg Schönenberger, Stefan Dötterl
Abstract

Inflorescences of Araceae pollinated by cyclocephaline scarab beetles are visited frequently by a wide array of other arthropods that exploit floral resources without taking part in pollination, including earwigs, flies, and true bugs. To date, nothing is known about the cues these insect visitors use to locate the inflorescences and whether or to what extent floral scents play a role. An aroid visited by large numbers of plant bugs (Miridae) in addition to cyclocephaline scarab beetle pollinators is the Neotropical species Dieffenbachia aurantiaca. We identified the plant bug species and investigated their behavior and arrival time on the inflorescences. To test the importance of olfactory cues in locating their host we conducted experiments with open and gauzebagged inflorescences as well as natural scent samples of D. aurantiaca. Inflorescence scents were analyzed by gas chromatography linked to mass spectrometry (GC/MS), and the attractive potential of the main scent compound was determined by behavioral assays. Three species of Neella, the most common one being N. floridula, visited the inflorescences at nightfall, shortly after the beginning of scent emission, and showed feeding and copulation activity. Bagged inflorescences as well as natural scent samples attracted similar numbers of plant bugs as the non-bagged inflorescences, showing that olfactory cues are sufficient for them to locate their host. Cis-jasmone was the major component within the inflorescence scent bouquet. In two-choice field bioassays, this compound proved to be highly attractive to Neella, and thus obviously plays a key role in finding host plants.

Organisation(s)
Department of Botany and Biodiversity Research
External organisation(s)
Paris-Lodron Universität Salzburg
Journal
Journal of Chemical Ecology
Volume
42
Pages
300–304
No. of pages
5
ISSN
0098-0331
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1007/s10886-016-0688-9
Publication date
04-2016
Peer reviewed
Yes
Austrian Fields of Science 2012
106008 Botany, 106047 Animal ecology, 106030 Plant ecology
Keywords
ASJC Scopus subject areas
Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics, Biochemistry
Portal url
https://ucris.univie.ac.at/portal/en/publications/nocturnal-plant-bugs-use-cisjasmone-to-locate-inflorescences-of-an-araceae-as-feeding-and-mating-site(25faf920-dcd4-40bc-8ac1-aebb4fb739a5).html