Faal Hajar, Meier Linnea R, Canlas Isaiah J, Murman Kelly, Wallace Matthew, Carrillo Daniel, Cooperband Miriam F
Forest Pest Methods Laboratory, USDA-APHIS-PPQ-S&T, Buzzards Bay, MA, United States.
Tropical Research and Education Center, University of Florida, Homestead, FL, United States.
Front Insect Sci. 2022 Sep 27;2:982965. doi: 10.3389/finsc.2022.982965. eCollection 2022.
The spotted lanternfly (SLF), (Hemiptera: Fulgoridae), is a generalist phloem feeder that produces copious amounts of honeydew, which in turn coats the understory. These insects form large aggregations covering the trunks of some trees, while similar trees nearby mysteriously seem unattractive. We investigated whether volatiles from SLF honeydew are attractive to conspecifics by collecting honeydew from the field and testing it for SLF attraction in a two-choice olfactometer. We found that honeydew excreted by adult male SLF was significantly attractive to male SLF, but not female SLF. Although the honeydew excreted by adult female SLF did not significantly attract male or female SLF, both sexes showed a positive trend towards attraction in response to female honeydew in the olfactometer. Analysis of the headspace volatiles of honeydew was conducted, and numerous semiochemicals were identified. Five of which, 2-heptanone, 2-octanone, 2-nonanone, benzyl acetate, and 1-nonanol, were tested in two-choice behavioral assays against a blank control. Benzyl acetate and 2-octanone were attractive to both sexes, whereas 2-heptanone was only attractive to males, and 2-nonanone only to females. The remaining compound, 1-nonanol, repelled females, but not males. Although honeydew has been reported as a source of kairomones for some natural enemies, this may be the first report of sex-specific attractants for conspecific insects found in the honeydew volatiles of a planthopper.
斑衣蜡蝉（半翅目：蜡蝉科）是一种多食性韧皮部取食者，会分泌大量蜜露，蜜露进而覆盖下层植被。这些昆虫会形成大的聚集群体，覆盖一些树木的树干，而附近类似的树木却神秘地似乎不具吸引力。我们通过从野外收集蜜露，并在双选嗅觉仪中测试其对斑衣蜡蝉的吸引力，来研究斑衣蜡蝉蜜露中的挥发物是否对同种个体具有吸引力。我们发现成年雄性斑衣蜡蝉分泌的蜜露对雄性斑衣蜡蝉具有显著吸引力，但对雌性斑衣蜡蝉没有吸引力。尽管成年雌性斑衣蜡蝉分泌的蜜露对雄性或雌性斑衣蜡蝉均无显著吸引力，但在嗅觉仪中，两性对雌性蜜露的反应均呈现出积极的吸引趋势。我们对蜜露的顶空挥发物进行了分析，并鉴定出了许多信息素。其中五种，即2-庚酮、2-辛酮、2-壬酮、乙酸苄酯和1-壬醇，在与空白对照的双选行为试验中进行了测试。乙酸苄酯和2-辛酮对两性均有吸引力，而2-庚酮仅对雄性有吸引力，且2-壬酮仅对雌性有吸引力。其余化合物1-壬醇会排斥雌性，但不排斥雄性。尽管蜜露已被报道为一些天敌的利它素来源，但这可能是首次在一种飞虱的蜜露挥发物中发现针对同种昆虫的性别特异性引诱剂的报告。
