Behavioral Responses of (Thysanoptera: Thripidae) to Volatile Compounds Identified from Ellis (Gentianales: Rubiaceae).

is a common thrips pest of various plant flowers with host preference. Plant volatiles provide important information for host-searching in insects. We examined the behavioral responses of adults to the floral volatiles of Ellis, Bolus, Pallas, and Jacq. in a Y-tube olfactometer. adults showed significantly different preferences to these four-flower plants, with the ranking of > > ≥ . Further, 29 components were identified in the volatile profiles of , and (Z)-3-hexenyl tiglate (14.38 %), linalool (27.45 %), and (E3,E7)-4,8,12-trimethyltrideca-1,3,7,11-tetraene (24.67 %) were the most abundant. Six-arm olfactometer bioassays showed that had significant positive responses to (Z)-3-hexenyl tiglate, linalool, and (E3,E7)-4,8,12-trimethyltrideca-1,3,7,11-tetraene tested at various concentrations, with the most attractive ones being 10 μL/μL, 10 μL/μL and 100 μg/μL for each compound, respectively. In pairing of these three compounds at their optimal concentrations, showed the preference ranking of (Z)-3-hexenyl tiglate > linalool > (E3,E7)-4,8,12-trimethyltrideca-1,3,7,11-tetraene. Large numbers of have been observed on flowers in the field, which might be caused by the high attraction of this pest to floral volatiles shown in the present study. Our findings shed light on the olfactory cues routing host plant searching behavior in , providing important information on how targets particular host plants. The high attractiveness of the main compounds (e.g., linalool, (E3,E7)-4,8,12-trimethyltrideca-1,3,7,11-tetraene, particular (Z)-3-hexenyl tiglate) identified from volatiles of flowers may be exploited further to develop novel monitoring and control tools (e.g., lure and kill strategies) against this flower-inhabiting thrips pest.