Olfactory behavior of convergent lady beetles (Coleoptera: Coccinellidae) to alarm pheromone of green peach aphid (Hemiptera: Aphididae)

Abstract

Abstract A previous investigation from our laboratory showed that the odor of live green peach aphids, Myzus persicae (Sulzer), highly attracts the convergent lady beetle, Hippodamia convergens Guérin-Méneville. In this study, we isolated the odor and identified it as ( E )-β-farnesene (an aphid alarm pheromone) using gas chromatography – mass spectrometry. The olfactory response of the convergent lady beetle to ( E )-β-farnesene was investigated using an eight-arm air-flow olfactometer and tracing the pathways of the lady beetles. The results clearly indicate that H . convergens can perceive and orient to ( E )-β-farnesene released by green peach aphids. These findings suggest that this species of lady beetle has evolved a sensory system for detecting the green peach aphid alarm pheromone as a means of finding its prey.