Farnesol, a synomone component between lantana (Lamiales: Verbenaceae) and the omnivorous predator, Campylomma chinensis Schuh (Hemiptera: Miridae)

• Published in: Arthropod-plant interactions Vol. 11; no. 5; pp. 703 - 708
• Main Authors: Ma, Feng-Mei, Zheng, Li-Xia, Gao, Ze-Zheng, Wu, Wei-Jian
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Dordrecht Springer Netherlands 01.10.2017; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: Adults; Alcohols; Allelochemicals; Arthropods; Behavioral Sciences; Biomedical and Life Sciences; Campylomma; Ecology; Entomology; Farnesol; Flowering; Flowering plants; Gas chromatography; Hemiptera; Host plants; Invertebrates; Lamiales; Lantana montevidensis; Life Sciences; Mass spectrometry; Mass spectroscopy; Miridae; Monoterpenoids; Original Paper; Plant Pathology; Plant Sciences; Plants (botany); Pollinators; Scents; Sesquiterpenoids; Synomones; Terpenes; Verbenaceae; Volatile compounds; Volatiles; Synomone; GC–MS; Facultative mutualism; Plant volatiles; Farnesol
• ISSN: 1872-8855; 1872-8847
• DOI: 10.1007/s11829-017-9523-7

Flower scents are known as synomones between flowering plants and pollinators, but very little is known about the synomone involving omnivorous predator. Campylomma chinensis Schuh (Hemiptera: Miridae) is an omnivorous predator that feeds on both small soft-bodied arthropods and plant hosts including purple trailing lantana Lantana montevidensis (Spreng.) Briq. (Lamiales: Verbenaceae). In laboratory experiments, we examined the effect of fresh inflorescences and volatiles of L. montevidensis on the behavior of adult C . chinensis . In a Y-tube olfactometer, we found that the fresh inflorescences of L. montevidensis significantly attracted adult C . chinensis . Then, the volatile compounds from the fresh inflorescences of L. montevidensis were analyzed by gas chromatography coupled with mass spectrometry (GC–MS). The results showed that there were seventeen compounds detected in the inflorescences, and the main components were terpenoids including monoterpenoids and sesquiterpenoids. Moreover, the adults were significantly attracted to the concentration of 5 µl/ml farnesol. The results of the present work implied that the omnivorous mirid C . chinensis used farnesol, a sesquiterpenoid alcohol derivative, to identify and locate its plant hosts. The role of farnesol as a potential synomone for C . chinensis is discussed.