Behavioral responses of Cydia pomonella and Spodoptera littoralis larvae to yeast volatiles
Andreadis S.S.1,*, Knight A.L.2, Witzgall P.1
1Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences,
Department of Plant Protection Biology, 23053 Alnarp, Sweden
2USDA-ARS Yakima, Wapato, WA 98951, USA
*Present address: PennState University, Chemical Ecology Lab, State College, PA 16802, USA
Insect-yeast interactions have been known for decades, however, their importance for host finding-behavior of insect herbivores has been underestimated. The discovery that lepidopteran larvae respond to yeast volatiles provides us with a new perspective of environmentally safe insect control. Herein we studied the behavioral responses of Cydia pomonella and Spodoptera littoralis larvae to 5 yeast species of the genus Metschnikowia, Cryptococcus tephrensis and Saccharomyces cerevisiae using binary choices in a Petri dish assay. In this assay M. pulcherrima and M. andauensis elicited an attractant effect to C. pomonella larvae, whereas M. hawaiiensis, S. cerevisiae, M. lopburiensis and M. andauensis to S. littoralis larvae. Manipulation of larval behaviour through yeast volatiles is now an opportunity for the development of novel plant protection techniques. Yeast is expected to influence more life-history traits of both species and to play a crucial role in host finding.
