ISSN 0013-8738, Entomological Review, 2016, Vol. 96, No. 3, pp. 284–287. © Pleiades Publishing, Inc., 2016. Original Russian Text © E.A. Stepanycheva, M.O. Petrova, T.D. Chermenskaya, I.V. Shamshev, 2016, published in Entomologicheskoe Obozrenie, 2016, Vol. 95, No. 2, pp. 295–300.
Effect of Methyl Salicylate on Behavioral Responses of Insects in a Forest Park E. A. Stepanycheva, M. O. Petrova, T. D. Chermenskaya, and I. V. Shamshev All-Russia Institute of Plant Protection, St. Petersburg–Pushkin, 196608 Russia e-mail:
[email protected] Received April 24, 2015
Abstract—Attractiveness of methyl salicylate to arthropods in natural populations was studied in a park reserve. During the observation period, representatives of several families of Diptera (the leaf-mining Agromyzidae, the predatory Hybotidae, Dolichopodidae and Empididae), parasitic micro-Hymenoptera (Mymaridae, Pteromalidae, Eulophidae, and Aphelinidae), and phytophagous bugs (Heteroptera) were recorded. Significant attractiveness of methyl salicylate to parasitic micro-Hymenoptera and dance flies (Empididae) was demonstrated. Our data confirm the possibility of attracting beneficial arthropods with methyl salicylate. DOI: 10.1134/S0013873816030052
One of the important tasks of modern horticulture is optimization of life of cultivated plants facilitating the full use of natural resources. In the field of plant protection, this task is related to development of new approaches, alternative to the traditional use of pesticides, which would not only achieve high efficiency but also minimize the negative ecological impact. One of the priority directions is studying induced plant defense. The ability to release volatile compounds which serve as cues not only for phytophages but also for entomophages is known to be an inherent property of plants. However, it was only at the end of the XX century that a suggestion was made that plants damaged by arthropod pests might be able to intensify this attractant property by additional release of volatiles specifically attractive to entomophages trophically associated with particular phytophages (Sabelis and Dicke, 1985). This “distress call” made by plants is the main biochemical mechanism of indirect induced defense realized at the level of the tritrophic system (plant–phytophage–entomophage) (Dicke, 1999). In the opinion of some authors, identification of such volatiles and use of their chemical analogs in horticulture may considerably reduce the pest abundance (Kessler et al., 2004; Halitschke et al., 2008; Howe and Jander, 2008; Khan et al., 2008). Despite great potential benefits of using induced plants responses and increased interest in this method, so far it has been of little practical use. Studies of the composition of volatiles released by plants in response
to damage by phytophages showed methyl salicylate to be one of the most common components found in such plants as legumes, hop, tomato, cucumber, cabbage, pear, cherry, sweet pepper, grapes, potatoes, etc. (James, 2003a; van den Boom et al., 2004; Zhu and Park, 2005; Gomez et al., 2012; Pezet et al., 2013). The influence of methyl salicylate on arthropods was recently studied. Its attractiveness to a number of beneficial insects was reliably demonstrated (James and Price, 2004; James et al., 2005; Lee, 2010; Mallinger et al., 2011; Rodriguez-Saona et al., 2011). At the same time, it was shown on crucifers under natural conditions that methyl salicylate attracted not only the entomophages Diadegma semiclausum (Hymenoptera: Ichneumonidae) and Anacharis zealandica (Hymenoptera: Figitidae), but also the leaf miner Scaptomyza flava (Orre et al., 2010). In addition, this compound had a repellent effect on the phytophages Aphis fabae (Hardie et al., 1994), Frankliniella occidentalis (Chermenskaya et al., 2001; Koschier et al., 2007), and the store pest Sitophilus zeamais (Jayasekara et al., 2005). Previous field experiments with methyl salicylate were mainly conducted using ready-made preparations offered by international manufacturers. The main goals of our work were to study the methods of methyl salicylate application (since no ready-made preparations of this substance are produced in Russia) and to assess its effect on arthropods of different trophic levels.
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The influence of methyl salicylate on the capture rates of phytophages and entomophages Variant
Mean capture rate, ind./trap X ± SE 18.VI.2010
Experiment Control
2.6 ± 1.12 1.1 ± 0.40
Experiment Control
3.5 ± 0.86* 1.5 ± 0.32
25.VI.2010
30.VI.2010
Phytophages 0.6 ± 0.29 0.3 ± 0.25 0.2 ± 0.14 0.5 ± 0.28 Entomophages 4.0 ± 0.56* 3.7 ± 1.06 1.3 ± 0.30 1.9 ± 0.44
6.VII.2010
15.VII.2010
1.0 ± 0.32 1.1 ± 0.37
1.5 ± 0.53 2.7 ± 1.11
4.3 ± 0.83* 2.0 ± 0.39
8.9 ± 1.22* 4.5 ± 0.86
* Data differ from control at P < 0.05.
MATERIALS AND METHODS Attractiveness of methyl salicylate to arthropods from natural populations was assessed in the territory of the park reserve (4 ha) which had not been chemically treated. Insects were captured with yellow glue traps measuring 15 × 15 cm. At the first stage we compared two methods of methyl salicylate application: adding it to the glue (0.5 mL/trap) and placing the compound in Eppendorf tubes attached to the upper edge of the traps (1 mL/trap). The unbaited traps served as controls. The traps were placed in a random pattern, 5 m apart and 2 m above ground. Observations were carried out in June–July; every week the traps were changed and the captured insects were counted and identified. Each variant included 10 replications. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION Over the period of observations, we recorded representatives of some families of Diptera (the mining Agromyzidae, the predatory Hybotidae, Dolichopodidae, and Empididae), parasitic micro-Hymenoptera (Mymaridae, Pteromalidae, Eulophidae, and Aphelinidae), and phytophagous bugs (Heteroptera). The level of attractiveness of methyl salicylate did not depend on the method of its application (Fig. 1). To reveal the general trends, all the identified insects were divided into two groups: phytophages and entomophages (see table). Methyl salicylate did not have any distinct attracting or repelling effect on leaf miner flies (Agromyzidae) or phytophagous bugs attracted to traps. As for entomophages, during the whole period of observations they were much more numerous on traps baited with methyl salicylate although representatives of different taxa responded to it differently. For predatory flies of the family Hybotidae (genus Platypalpus), the rise of capture rates on ENTOMOLOGICAL REVIEW Vol. 96 No. 3 2016
baited traps was recorded only once, whereas dance flies of the family Empididae appeared only in the two last counts, but only on traps with methyl salicylate. The abundance of parasitic micro-Hymenoptera on the test traps considerably exceeded that in the control on all the count dates (Fig. 2). According to the published data, experiments with methyl salicylate carried out both in the laboratory and in the field have demonstrated its ability to influence the distant orientation of arthropods. The compound may show attractant or repellent properties with regard to different species. For example, attractiveness of methyl salicylate to a number of entomophages was revealed by olfactometer tests (Dicke et al., 1990; Ozawa et al., 2000; Drukker et al., 2000). Its attractiveness was also established for the predatory bug Orius laevigatus Fieber by experiments in the laboratory and on vegetation (Stepanycheva et al., 2014). The available data on the influence of this substance on the natural populations of entomophages are still scarce. James (2003a, 2003b) showed that glue traps baited with methyl salicylate caught much more beneficial insects than unbaited ones. Positive response to methyl salicylate was observed in representatives of the families Chrysopidae, Miridae, Geocoridae, Anthocoridae, Syrphidae, and Coccinellidae. Similar to our experiments, significant attraction of parasitic micro-Hymenoptera and empidid flies to methyl salicylate was clearly demonstrated on grape and hop (James and Price, 2004; James and Grasswitz, 2005; James et al., 2005). Thus, our data on particular species agree with the results of foreign researchers and confirm the possibility of attracting beneficial arthropods with methyl salicylate. This method would enhance the activity of natural beneficial arthropods and reduce the number of chemical treatments, thus reducing pesticide load and
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Fig. 1. Dependence of the capture rates on the method of methyl salicylate application: (1) methyl salicylate added to glue; (2) methyl salicylate in Eppendorf tubes attached to traps. Vertical axis: mean capture rate, ind./trap, X ± SE.
Fig. 2. Dynamics of abundance of parasitic micro-Hymenoptera on traps. Horizontal axis: count dates; vertical axis: mean capture rate, ind./trap, X ± SE; solid line: experiment (traps with methyl salicylate); dashed line: control (unbaited traps).
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