Do root-emitted volatile organic compounds attract wireworms?

in Communications in Agricultural and Applied Biological Sciences (in press)

Wireworms are the soil dwelling larvae of click beetles (Coleoptera: Elateridae). Their importance as crop pests increases since the efficient chemical means to control them cannot be considered anymore ... [more ▼]

Wireworms are the soil dwelling larvae of click beetles (Coleoptera: Elateridae). Their importance as crop pests increases since the efficient chemical means to control them cannot be considered anymore. Therefore, many integrated pest management strategies have been investigated in the past few years. Most of them rely on the understanding of the ecology of the click beetles during their whole life cycle. We focus our work on the chemical ecology of wireworms, more precisely on the root-emitted volatile organic compounds (VOCs) that might intervene in the food-searching process of the larvae by helping them to find a suitable host-plant or by acting as key factors in the belowground defence mechanism of the plant. Here, we present our first results of dual-choice orientation tests in olfactometric pipes. Wireworms (Agriotes sordidus Illiger) were submitted individually to a variety of olfactory baits ranging from entire barley roots (Hordeum vulgare L. var. Quench) to isolated VOCs identified as part of the emitting profile. The latter was described thanks to HS-SPME samplings and GC-MS analysis, for roots grown in the exact same conditions as for the olfactometric experimentations with entire roots. Most of the experimentations gave significant results. When confronted to volatiles emitted by entire roots, wireworms significantly orientated towards the bait (χ²-goodness-of-fit test, χ²=8, P-value=0.005). This result allowed us to follow up with the same device and to progressively vary the nature of the baits. Our protocol should be used for other plant-wireworm species combinations. Our results should be taken into account in varietal selection, in crop rotation, or in trapping systems aiming at the reduction of the populations of wireworms. [less ▲]

Do root-emitted volatile organic compounds interact with wireworms?

Scientific conference (2012, May 22)

Wireworms are the soil dwelling larvae of click beetles (Coleoptera: Elateridae). Their importance as crop pests increases since the efficient chemical means to control them cannot be considered anymore ... [more ▼]

Wireworms are the soil dwelling larvae of click beetles (Coleoptera: Elateridae). Their importance as crop pests increases since the efficient chemical means to control them cannot be considered anymore. Therefore, many integrated pest management strategies have been investigated in the past few years. Most of them rely on the understanding of the ecology of the click beetles during their whole life cycle. We focus our work on the chemical ecology of wireworms, more precisely on the root-emitted volatile organic compounds (VOCs) that might intervene in the food-searching process of the larvae by helping them to find a suitable host-plant or by acting as key factors in the belowground defence mechanism of the plant. Here, we present our first results of dual-choice orientation tests in olfactometric pipes. Wireworms (Agriotes sordidus Illiger) were submitted individually to a variety of olfactory baits ranging from entire barley roots (Hordeum vulgare L. var. Quench) to isolated VOCs identified as part of the emitting profile. The latter was described thanks to HS-SPME samplings and GC-MS analysis, for roots grown in the exact same conditions as for the olfactometric experimentations with entire roots. Most of the experimentations gave significant results. When confronted to volatiles emitted by entire roots, wireworms significantly orientated towards the bait (χ²-goodness-of-fit test, χ²=8, P-value=0.005). This result allowed us to follow up with the same device and to progressively vary the nature of the baits. Our protocol should be used for other plant-wireworm species combinations. Our results should be taken into account in varietal selection, in crop rotation, or in trapping systems aiming at the reduction of the populations of wireworms. [less ▲]

Identification and quantification of VOCs emitted by the roots of barley (Hordeum vulgare cv. Quench) aged from 21 days by headspace solid-phase microextraction coupled to gas chromatography (HS-SPME GC-MS)

Poster (2012, February 10)

Mise au point d’une méthode de capture et d’analyse des molécules organiques émises par les racines d’orge: la micro-extraction sur phase solide en espace de tête couplée à la chromatographie en phase gazeuse (HS-SPME GC-MS)

Poster (2011, October 13)