›› 2009, Vol. 52 ›› Issue (12): 1290-1297.

• RESEARCH PAPERS • Previous Articles     Next Articles

The synergism of plant volatile compounds and sex pheromones of the tobacco cutworm moth, Spodoptera litura (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae)

  

  • Online:2009-12-20 Published:2009-12-20

Abstract: A large number of field trials were carried out to explore the synergistic effect of plant volatile compounds derived from host plants and flowers and sex pheromones, viz. (9Z, 11E)tetradecadienyl acetate and (9Z,12E)tetradecadienyl acetate 10∶1, of the tobacco cutworm moth, Spodoptera litura (Lepidoptera, Noctuidae), and eventually to improve the attractiveness of sex pheromone lures to male moths. Nine compounds selected from the headspace volatiles of host plants and floral odors were individually added into pheromone lures and tested in the fields for their attractiveness to the male moths. The results indicated that only phenyl acetaldehyde significantly increased the attractiveness of the pheromone at certain dosage (0.4 mg per lure) to male moths. High dosage of phenyl acetaldehyde dramatically inhibited the responses of pheromone lures. Other compounds in single or mixture tested in our experiments showed no significant synergistic effect with pheromones at the dosages tested. The lures contained only phenyl acetaldehyde or its mixture with some compounds attracted the male moth weakly. However, only the complete blend of sex pheromones showed the synergistic effect with plant volatiles. Missing minor sex pheromone components resulted in no attractiveness to male moths. These results suggest that the synergism of phenyl acetaldehyde with sex pheromone can be used to upgrade the efficiency of S. litura pest control and monitoring by sex pheromone.

Key words: Spodoptera litura, sex pheromone, plant volatile compounds, synergism, mass trapping