Identification of the Alarm Pheromone of Cowpea Aphid, and Comparison With Two Other Aphididae Species

Journal of Insect Science
Sandrine Mariella Bayendi LouditFrédéric Francis

Abstract

In response to a predator attack, many Aphidinae species release an alarm pheromone, which induces dispersal behavior in other individuals within the colony. The major component of this pheromone is the sesquiterpene (E)-β-farnesene (Eβf), but variations occur between aphid species. In the present work, we collected, identified, and quantified the alarm pheromone of Aphis craccivora Koch (Hemiptera: Aphididae), before quantifying the escape behavior induced in the neighboring individuals. We compared the semiochemistry and associated behavior of alarm signaling with two other aphid species: Myzus persicae (Sulzer) (Hemiptera: Aphididae) and Aphis fabae Scopoli (Hemiptera: Aphididae). Eβf was the only volatile found for each species. M. persicae produces a higher quantity of Eβf (8.39 ± 1.19 ng per individual) than A. craccivora (6.02 ± 0.82 ng per individual) and A. fabae (2.04 ± 0.33 ng per individual). Following exposure to natural doses of synthetic Eβf (50 ng and 500 ng), A. craccivora respond more strongly than the two other Aphidinae species with 78% of the individuals initiated alarm behavior for 500 ng of Eβf.

References

Jun 25, 1976·Science·L R NaultW S Bowers
Dec 9, 2004·Die Naturwissenschaften·John A Byers
Dec 20, 2011·Insect Biochemistry and Molecular Biology·Sophie VandermotenFrançois J Verheggen
Jan 18, 2017·Journal of Chemical Ecology·Antoine BoullisFrançois J Verheggen

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