Effect of Leaf Maturity on Host Habitat Location by the Egg-Larval Parasitoid Ascogaster reticulata

Herbivory-Induced Plant Volatiles Mediate Multitrophic Relationships in Ecosystems

Herbivory-induced plant volatiles (HIPVs) are involved in biotic interactions among plants as well as herbivorous and carnivorous arthropods. This review looks at the specificity in plant-carnivore communication mediated by specific blends of HIPVs as well as describes plant-herbivore and plant-plant communication mediated by specific HIPVs. Factors affecting the net benefits of HIPV production have also been examined. These specific means of communication results in high complexity in the 'interaction-information network', which should be explored further to elucidate the mechanism underlying the numerous species coexisting in ecosystems.

Herbivore-Induced Rice Volatiles Attract and Affect the Predation Ability of the Wolf Spiders, Pirata subpiraticus and Pardosa pseudoannulata

Spiders are important natural enemies of rice pests. Studying the effects of herbivore-induced rice volatiles on spider attraction and predation ability may lead to safer methods for pest prevention and control. In this study, four-arm olfactometer, predation ability experiment, and field trapping experiment were used to evaluate the effects of herbivore-induced rice volatiles on Pirata subpiraticus Bösenberg et Strand (Araneae: Lycosidae) and Pardosa pseudoannulata Bösenberg et Strand (Araneae: Lycosidae). The 0.5 μg/μL linalool concentration was attractive, and also shortened the predation latency in male P. subpiraticus and female P. pseudoannulata. The 0.5 μg/μL linalool concentration increased the daily predation capacity of female P. pseudoannulata. Male P. pseudoannulata were attracted to 1.0 g/L methyl salicylate, which also shortened their predation latency. In field experiments, methyl salicylate and linalool were effective for trapping spiders. Herbivore-induced rice volatiles attract rice field spiders and affect their predatory ability. These results suggest that herbivore-induced rice volatiles can be used to attract spiders and provide improved control of rice pests.