Composition of Strawberry Floral Volatiles and their Effects on Behavior of Strawberry Blossom Weevil, Anthonomus rubi

Research output: Contribution to journalJournal articleResearchpeer-review

  • Raimondas Mozuraitis
  • David Hall
  • Nina Trandem
  • Baiba Ralle
  • Kalle Tunstrom
  • Sigsgaard, Lene
  • Catherine Baroffio
  • Michelle Fountain
  • Jerry Cross
  • Atle Wibe
  • Anna-Karin Borg-Karlson

The strawberry blossom weevil (SBW),Anthonomus rubi, is a major pest in strawberry fields throughout Europe. Traps baited with aggregation pheromone are used for pest monitoring. However, a more effective lure is needed. For a number of pests, it has been shown that the attractiveness of a pheromone can be enhanced by host plant volatiles. The goal of this study was to explore floral volatile blends of different strawberry species (Fragaria x ananassaandFragaria vesca) to identify compounds that might be used to improve the attractiveness of existing lures for SBW. Floral emissions ofF. x a.varieties Sonata, Beltran, Korona, and ofF. vesca, were collected by both solid-phase microextraction (SPME) and dynamic headspace sampling on Tenax. Analysis by gas chromatography/mass spectrometry showed the floral volatiles ofF. x ananassa.andF. vescawere dominated by aromatic compounds and terpenoids, with 4-methoxybenzaldehyde (p-anisaldehyde) and alpha-muurolene the major compounds produced by the two species, respectively. Multi-dimensional scaling analyses separated the blends of the two species and explained differences betweenF. vescagenotypes and, to some degree, variation betweenF. x ananassavarieties In two-choice behavioral tests, SBW preferred odors of flowering strawberry plants to those of non-flowering plants, but weevils did not discriminate between odors fromF. x ananassaandF. vescaflowering plants. Adding blends of six synthetic flower volatiles to non-flowering plants of both species increased the preference of SBW for these over the plants alone. When added individually to non-flowering plants, none of the components increased the preference of SBW, indicating a synergistic effect. However, SBW responded to 1,4-dimethoxybenzene, a major component of volatiles fromF. viridis, previously found to synergize the attractiveness of the SBW aggregation pheromone in field studies.

Original languageEnglish
Article number289
JournalJournal of Chemical Ecology
Volume46
Pages (from-to)1069-1081
Number of pages13
ISSN0098-0331
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2020

    Research areas

  • Anthonomus rubi, Fragaria x ananassa, Fragaria vesca, Floral odors, Semiochemicals, Pest control, WEEVIL ANTHONOMUS-RUBI, SOLID-PHASE MICROEXTRACTION, OLFACTORY RECEPTOR NEURONS, GREEN LEAF VOLATILES, AGGREGATION PHEROMONE, INSECT PHEROMONES, CURCULIONIDAE, COLEOPTERA, PESTS, COL.

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