Abstract: 【Aim】 To verify the feasibility of medicinal plants and their volatile components in the intervention of the selection behavior of adults of the western flower thrips, Frankliniella occidentalis, and to provide solutions for agricultural pest control. 【Methods】 The Y-type olfactometer was used to determine the selection rates of F. occidentalis adults to three vegetable plants (Solanum lycopersicum, Cucumis sativus and Capsicum annuum), and five medicinal plants (Mentha piperita, Perilla frutescens, Nepeta cataria, Leonurus cardiaca and Ageratum conyzoides). Gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) was used to identify the common volatile components in the leaves of the five medicinal plants. A Y-type olfactometer was used to detect the selection rates of F. occidentalis adults to 0.01, 0.1, 1, 10 and 100 μL/mL β-caryophyllene. 【Results】 In the selection behavior test, F. occidentalis adults showed avoidance behavior to all the five medicinal plants, especially showed significant avoidance behavior to P. frutescens and A. conyzoides, with the selection rates of 24.45% and 24.53%, respectively. The common volatile components in the leaves of the five medicinal plants identified by using GC-MS were β-caryophyllene and 2,2′-methylene bis (6-tert-butyl p-cresol). F. occidentalis adults showed no obvious behavioral response to 0.01 μL/mL β-caryophyllene, and showed obvious avoidance behavior to 0.1-100 μL/mL β-caryophyllene. The repellent rates of β-caryophyllene at high concentrations (10-100 μL/mL) could reach about 85% against F. occidentalis adults. 【Conclusion】 The tested five medicinal plants showed a significant repellent effect on F. occidentalis adults, which provides a theoretical basis for understanding the selectivity of F. occidentalis to non-host plants.β-Caryophyllene, a common volatile component in the leaves of the five medicinal plants, can be used as a repellent and botanical pesticide for agricultural control of F. occidentalis.

Key words: Frankliniella occidentalis, medicinal plants, selection behavior, volatile component, β-caryophyllene