The cucumber moth (CM), Diaphania indica (Saunders) (Lepidoptera: Pyralidae), is a major lepidopteran pest of cucurbitaceous plants that caterpillars feed on vegetative tissue of the plants and thereby cause loss of crops. Previous work has shown that volatile organic compounds (VOCs) released by host plants attract gravid CM females for oviposition, but the compounds responsible for this attraction had not been identified. The purpose of the present study was to identify attractive volatiles/mixtures of components to CM. VOCs from four host plants (cucumber, squash, melon, and watermelon) were collected with solid-phase microextraction fibers and identified by GC–MS. The electroantennography (EAG) response of gravid CM female antennae to host plant VOCs was determined, and also the behavioral responses to selected VOCs were tested in a wind tunnel. From a total of 22 components that were identified, only four (xylene, α-pinene, limonene, and (E)-β-ocimene) were present in all four host plant species. However, these four components seem to play a minor role in CM attraction as shown by EAG and behavioral (wind tunnel) experiments. Benzenoids and terpenoids were the main VOCs for the four host plants. The strongest EAG responses were elicited by four aliphatic compounds ((Z)-6-nonenal, octanal, (E)-2-octen 1-ol, and 1-hexanol) and two benzenoids (benzyl alcohol, and benzaldehyde). In wind tunnel experiments, the most flight responses were recorded for three blends consisting of four compounds [(E, Z)-2,6-nonadienal, (E)-2-nonenal, (Z)-6-nonenal, and 4,8-dimethyl-1,3,7-nonatriene (DMNT)] + (1) benzaldehyde, and benzyl alcohol, (2) β-caryophyllene, and (3) benzyl alcohol. However, only blends composed of (1) benzyl alcohol and DMNT or (2) benzyl alcohol, benzaldehyde, and DMNT elicited landing responses. These findings indicate that mixtures mimicking cucumber volatiles attract gravid CM females, which could in further steps be used to develop lures for control management of CM.

中文翻译：

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鉴定和评估对印度Dia（Saunders）具有吸引力的四种葫芦科寄主植物挥发物（Lep.：Pyralidae）

黄瓜蛾（CM），印度Dia（Saunders）（鳞翅目：Pyralidae），是葫芦科植物的主要鳞翅目害虫，毛虫以植物的营养组织为食，从而造成农作物损失。先前的工作表明，寄主植物释放的挥发性有机化合物（VOC）会吸引妊娠的CM雌性进行产卵，但尚未确定引起这种吸引力的化合物。本研究的目的是确定对CM有吸引力的挥发物/组分混合物。用固相微萃取纤维收集了四种寄主植物（黄瓜，南瓜，瓜和西瓜）的VOC，并通过GC-MS进行了鉴定。确定了妊娠雌性CM母触角对寄主植物VOC的电造影（EAG）响应，并在风洞中测试了对所选VOC的行为响应。E）-β-ocimene）存在于所有四个寄主植物物种中。然而，如EAG和行为（风洞）实验所示，这四个成分似乎在CM吸引力中起着较小的作用。苯酚和萜类化合物是四种寄主植物的主要挥发性有机化合物。四种脂族化合物（（Z）-6-壬烯醛，辛醛，（E）-2-辛烯1-ol和1-己醇）和两个苯甲酸酯类（苯甲醇和苯甲醛）引发了最强的EAG响应。在风洞实验中，记录了由四种化合物[（E，Z）-2,6-nonadienalal，（E）-2-nonenalal，（Z）-6-壬烯醛和4,8-二甲基-1,3,7-壬二烯（DMNT）] +（1）苯甲醛和苯甲醇，（2）β-石竹烯和（3）苯甲醇。但是，只有由（1）苯甲醇和DMNT或（2）苯甲醇，苯甲醛和DMNT组成的混合物才引起着陆响应。这些发现表明，模拟黄瓜挥发物的混合物吸引了妊娠雌性CM雌性，这些雌性可在进一步的步骤中用于诱使CM控制管理。