Kulkarni Sharavari S, Dosdall Lloyd M, Spence John R, Willenborg Christian J
Department of Agricultural, Food, and Nutritional Science, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada.
Department of Renewable Resources, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada.
PLoS One. 2017 Jan 20;12(1):e0170593. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0170593. eCollection 2017.
Olfactory ability is an element of fitness in many animals, guiding choices among alternatives such as mating partners or food. Ground beetles (Coleoptera; Carabidae), exhibit preferences for prey, and some species are well-known weed seed predators. We used olfactometer-based bioassays to determine if olfactory stimuli are associated with detection of Brassica napus L., Sinapis arvensis L., and Thlaspi arvense L. seeds by ground beetles characteristic of agroecosystems, and whether behavioural responses to seed odors depended on seed physiological state (imbibed or unimbibed). Imbibed B.napus seeds were preferred over other weed species by two of the three carabid species tested. Only A. littoralis responded significantly to unimbibed seeds of B. napus. Sensitivity to olfactory cues appeared to be highly specific as all carabid species discriminated between the olfactory cues of imbibed brassicaceous weed seeds, but did not discriminate between weed seeds that were unimbibed. Overall, our data suggest that depending on seed physiological state, odours can play an important role in the ability of carabids to find and recognize seeds of particular weed species.
嗅觉能力是许多动物适应性的一个要素，它引导动物在诸如配偶或食物等选择之间做出抉择。地甲虫（鞘翅目；步甲科）对猎物有偏好，有些种类是著名的杂草种子捕食者。我们使用基于嗅觉仪的生物测定法来确定嗅觉刺激是否与农业生态系统中典型的地甲虫对甘蓝型油菜、野芥菜和遏蓝菜种子的探测有关，以及对种子气味的行为反应是否取决于种子的生理状态（吸胀或未吸胀）。在所测试的三种步甲物种中，有两种更喜欢吸胀的甘蓝型油菜种子，而不是其他杂草种类。只有海滨步甲对未吸胀的甘蓝型油菜种子有显著反应。对嗅觉线索的敏感性似乎具有高度特异性，因为所有步甲物种都能区分吸胀的十字花科杂草种子的嗅觉线索，但不能区分未吸胀的杂草种子。总体而言，我们的数据表明，根据种子的生理状态，气味在步甲寻找和识别特定杂草种类种子的能力中可能起着重要作用。
