Evaluation of Selected Plant Volatiles as Attractants for the Stick Tea Thrip <i>Dendrothrips minowai</i> in the Laboratory and Tea Plantation

oleh: Chunli Xiu, Fengge Zhang, Hongsheng Pan, Lei Bian, Zongxiu Luo, Zhaoqun Li, Nanxia Fu, Xiaoming Cai, Zongmao Chen

Format: Article
Diterbitkan: MDPI AG 2022-05-01

Deskripsi

The stick tea thrip (<i>Dendrothrips minowai</i> Priesner) is the main pest thrip in tea (<i>Camellia sinensis</i>) plantations in China, and seriously affects the quality and yield of tea. Plant-derived semiochemicals provide an alternative to pheromones as lures and these compounds possess powerful attractiveness. In this study, we selected 20 non-pheromone semiochemicals, including compounds that have been reported to attract other thrips and some volatiles emitted from tea plants as the potential attractant components for <i>D. minowai</i>. In electroantennogram (EAG) assays, 10 synthetic compounds (p-anisaldehyde, 3-methyl butanal, (E)-β-ocimene, farnesene, nonanal, eugenol, (+)-α-pinene, limonene, (−)-α-pinene, and γ-terpinene) elicited significant antennal responses in female <i>D. minowai</i>. In addition, a two-choice H-tube olfactometer bioassay showed that <i>D. minowai</i> displayed significant positive responses to eight compound dilutions (p-anisaldehyde, eugenol, farnesene, methyl benzoate, 3-methyl butanal, (E)-β-ocimene, (−)-α-pinene, and (+)-α-pinene) when compared with the solvent control at both 1 and 2 h. Moreover, γ-terpinene exhibited a significantly deterrent effect on <i>D. minowai</i>. Finally, trap catches of four compounds (p-anisaldehyde, eugenol, farnesene, and 3-methyl butanal, respectively) significantly increase in tea plantations. Among these, the maximum number of <i>D. minowai</i> collected by blue sticky traps baited with p-anisaldehyde was 7.7 times higher than the control. In conclusion, p-anisaldehyde, eugenol, farnesene, and 3-methyl butanal could significantly attract <i>D. minowai</i> in the laboratory and under field conditions, suggesting considerable potential as commercial attractants to control <i>D. minowai</i> populations.