Winter host component reduces colonization by bird-cherry-oat aphid,Rhopalosiphum padi (L.) (homoptera, aphididae), and other aphids in cereal fields

J Pettersson; J A Pickett; B J Pye; A Quiroz; L E Smart; L J Wadhams; C M Woodcock

doi:10.1007/BF02036192

Winter host component reduces colonization by bird-cherry-oat aphid,Rhopalosiphum padi (L.) (homoptera, aphididae), and other aphids in cereal fields

J Chem Ecol. 1994 Oct;20(10):2565-74. doi: 10.1007/BF02036192.

Authors

J Pettersson¹, J A Pickett, B J Pye, A Quiroz, L E Smart, L J Wadhams, C M Woodcock

Affiliation

¹ Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, P.O. Box 7044, S-750 07, Uppsala, Sweden.

PMID: 24241832
DOI: 10.1007/BF02036192

Abstract

Methyl salicylate, a volatile component ofPrunus padus, the winter host ofRhopalosiphum padi, was found to reduce colonization of the summer host by this aphid. The compound was identified by gas chromatographic analysis coupled with recordings from cells in the primary rhinarium on the sixth antennal segment of the aphid. Methyl salicylate eliminated the attractancy of oat leaves to spring migrants in olfactometer tests. In Sweden, this compound significantly decreased colonization of field grown cereals byR. padi and in the U.K., populations ofSitobion avenae andMetopolophium dirhodum were significantly lower on treated plots.