Behavioral Responses of Bemisia tabaci Mediterranean Cryptic Species to Three Host Plants and Their Volatiles

Simple SummaryBemisia tabaciGennadius (Hemiptera: Aleyrodidae) was first observed in tobacco in Greece in 1889. In China, since the introduction ofEuphorbia pulcherrima(Euphorbiales: Euphorbiaceae, native to Central America) at the end of the previous century,B. tabacihas gradually become an increasingly significant agricultural pest. In recent years, the push–pull strategy has been widely applied to the control of the pest. The distinct volatiles are emitted of plants directly affect the efficiency of pushing and pulling; hence, we aimed to study the behavioral responses ofB. tabacito three plants (Gossypium hirsutum, Abutilon theophrasti, andRicinus communis) during various growth phases (pre-flowering, fluorescence, and fruiting) and analyzed the quality and quantity of volatiles from of three growth stage, as well as identified few compounds that attract or repel theB. tabaci. The results demonstrated that the distinct volatiles are emitted by pre-flowering, flowering, and fruiting plants with varying effects onB. tabacipreference. Three volatile compounds (linalool, (Z)-3-hexenyl acetate, and nonanal) analyzed in this study had trapping/repellent effects onB. tabaci.Therefore, these compounds can be adopted as potential attractants or repellents to controlB. tabaci.AbstractBemisia tabaciGennadius (Hemiptera: Aleyrodidae) is a worldwide pest that damages over 900 host plant species. The volatile organic compounds (volatiles) of contrasting plants, as well as their growth stage, influence this pest’s infestation behavior. The chemical contents of volatiles isolated from three plants (Gossypium hirsutum,Abutilon theophrasti, andRicinus communis) during various growth phases (pre-flowering, fluorescence, and fruiting) were examined, as well as their influence on the behavior of adultB. tabaci. The olfactometer studies demonstrated that growth periods of the three plants affected the preference ofB. tabaci. Volatiles of piemarker and cotton plants had dissimilar levels of attraction to adults during all stages. Volatile substances released by the castor at the stage of flowering had repellent effect onB. tabaci. In the plant versus plant combination, piemarker volatiles before and during anthesis were most preferred by adults, followed by cotton and then castor. A total of 24, 24, and 20 compounds were detected from volatiles of piemarker, cotton, and castor, respectively, and proportions among the compounds changed during different stages of plant development. The olfactory responses ofB. tabacito volatile compounds presented that linalool and high concentration of (Z)-3-hexenyl acetate had a strong trapping effect on this pest, while nonanal had a significant repellent effect at high concentration. This study indicates that distinct plants and their growth stage affect their attractiveness or repellency toB.tabaciadults, which are mediated by changing plant volatiles. These compounds obtained by analysis screening can be adopted as potential attractants or repellents to control Mediterranean (MED)B. tabaci.Keywords:tobacco whitefly;Mediterranean (MED) cryptic species;selectivity;plant growth stage;volatile compounds;push–pull strategy