Abstract
The polyphagous invasive brown marmorated stink bug, Halyomorpha halys, reportedly discriminates among phenological stages of host plants. To determine whether olfaction is involved in host plant stage discrimination, we selected (dwarf) sunflower, Helianthus annuus, as a model host plant species. When adult females of a still-air laboratory experiment were offered a choice of four potted sunflowers at distinct phenological stages (vegetative, pre-bloom, bloom, seeding), most females settled onto blooming plants but oviposited evenly on plants of all four stages. In moving-air two-choice olfactometer experiments, we then tested each plant stage versus filtered air and versus one another, for attraction of H. halys females. Blooming sunflowers performed best overall, but no one plant stage was most attractive in all experiments. Capturing and analyzing (by GC–MS) the headspace odorants of each plant stage revealed a marked increase of odorant abundance (e.g., monoterpenes) as plants transitioned from pre-bloom to bloom. Analyzing the headspace odorant blend of blooming sunflower by gas chromatographic-electroantennographic detection (GC-EAD) revealed 13 odorants that consistently elicited responses from female H. halys antennae. An 11-component synthetic blend of these odorants attracted H. halys females in laboratory olfactometer experiments. Furthermore, in field settings, the synthetic blend enhanced the attractiveness of synthetic H. halys pheromone as a trap lure, particularly in spring (April to mid-June). A simpler yet fully effective sunflower semiochemical blend could be developed and coupled with synthetic H. halys aggregation pheromones to improve monitoring efforts or could improve the efficacy of modified attract-and-kill control tactics for H. halys.
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Acknowledgements
We thank two anonymous reviewers for complimentary and constructive comments, Peggy Clarke, Jason Thiessen, Paul Kelner, Megan Marshall, Julie Pocock, Naomi Hashimoto at the Agassiz Research and Development Centre for growing sunflower plants and assisting with the rearing of experimental insects, Tracy Leskey for constructive comments on the manuscript, Stephen Takács for graphical illustrations, Sharon Oliver for some word processing, and Angela Oscienny, Chris Wu, Emily Grove, Jade Sherwood, Jessica Leung, Kennedy Bolstad, Matt Walz, Nemo de Jong and Sasha Tuttle for technical assistance.
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The research was supported by a Graduate Fellowship from Simon Fraser University to WW, and by scholarships to WW from the Mutual Fire Insurance Company of BC, BC Professional Pest Management, the BC Council of Gardens Clubs, and Integrated Crop Management Services. The research was further supported by Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, and a Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC) – Industrial Research Chair to GG, with BASF Canada Inc. and Scotts Canada Ltd. as the industrial sponsors.
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GG, PA, and WW conceived the study; WW captured headspace plant odorants and ran laboratory olfactometer and field experiments; RG analyzed plant odorants; SA synthesized chemicals; WW and PA analyzed data; WW and GG wrote the first draft and all authors reviewed and approved of the final draft.
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Wong, W.H.L., Gries, R.M., Abram, P.K. et al. Attraction of Brown Marmorated Stink Bugs, Halyomorpha halys, to Blooming Sunflower Semiochemicals. J Chem Ecol 47, 614–627 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10886-021-01281-y
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10886-021-01281-y