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ARS Home » Northeast Area » Beltsville, Maryland (BARC) » Beltsville Agricultural Research Center » Invasive Insect Biocontrol & Behavior Laboratory » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #315851
Title: Sex pheromone of the mirid bug, Adelphocoris suturalis

Author
item ZHANG, ZHILIN - Huazhong Agricultural University
item GAO, QIAO - Huazhong Agricultural University
item LIU, LANG - Huazhong Agricultural University
item Zhang, Aijun
item ZHANG, BOYAO - Huazhong Agricultural University
item LUO, JING - Huazhong Agricultural University
item CHEN, LIZHEN - Huazhong Agricultural University
item WANG, MANQUN - Huazhong Agricultural University
item LEI, CHAOLIANG - Huazhong Agricultural University

Submitted to: Journal of Chemical Ecology
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 10/18/2015
Publication Date: 10/31/2015
Citation: Zhang, Z., Gao, Q., Liu, L., Zhang, A., Zhang, B., Luo, J., Chen, L., Wang, M., Lei, C. 2015. Sex pheromone of the mirid bug, Adelphocoris suturalis. Journal of Chemical Ecology. 26(1):25-31.

Interpretive Summary: The mirid plant bug has a broad host range, high population growth, and strong dispersal capacity. It feeds on over half of all commercially-grown crop plants worldwide. It is serious pest on small fruits and vegetables in North America. Recently, the plant bug has become the key insect pest of Bt cotton because the use of broad-spectrum insecticides has substantial decreased. Early detection of plant bug infestation is urgently needed for timely management interventions. In this study, we identified the sex attractant of one species of this pest and confirmed the attractive activity of a synthetic version in field conditions. Our research result offered information for growers and scientists on accurate population levels of plant bug in the crop fields and provided potentials to develop environmentally-friendly pest management approaches using the sex attractant to control this pest.

Technical Abstract: Mirid bugs (Hemiptera: Miridae) are phytophagous insect pests that damage many types of economically significant field crops. In recent years, a great deal of attention has been paid to the species, Adelphocoris suturalis, because of it outbreaks in Bt cotton. Our previous work showed that virgin A. suturalis females effectively attracted males in the field. In this study, we found that A. suturalis males are not attracted by odors from either live nymphs or sexually mature virgin females when the ostiloes of metathoracic scent gland (MTG) on thoraxes are occluded with paraffin wax in Y-tube olfactometer bioassay. However, they are significantly attracted to odors from adult virgin females when the osiloes of dorsal abdominal gland (DAG) on abdomen are occluded, indicating that female A. suturalis releases sex pheromone only from MTG. Volatile and MTG extracts from both sexes were collected and analyzed by gas chromatography-electroantennogram detection (GC-EAD) and chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS). A binary blend of chemicals, (E)-4-oxo-2-hexenal (E4O2H) and hexyl hexanoate (HH) in a 10 : 1 ratio, has been determined to be sex pheromone components produced by adult female A. suturalis. Both E4O2H and HH were present in aeration and MTG extracts from females, while HH was only found from females. Activity of identified sex pheromone has been confirmed in the field tests with synthetic compounds and only males are trapped. In addition to the above two compounds, hexyl butyrate (HB) was also present as a major component in both female aeration and MTG extracts and elicited the largest EAD response from male antennae. However, adding HB to the binary pheromone blend as ternary blend did not always increase trap catches. Therefore, the function of this compound is still not clear and needs to be further investigated.