<i>Cydia strobilella</i> (Lepidoptera: Tortricidae): antennal and behavioral responses to host and nonhost volatiles

Abstract

Abstract Female spruce seed moths, Cydia strobilella (L.) (Lepidoptera: Tortricidae), oviposit on seed cones of most North American spruces ( Picea spp.) (Pinaceae) at the time of pollination, and larvae feed on seeds in the maturing cones. We tested the hypothesis that host-seeking moths respond to volatiles from both host and nonhost trees. In coupled gas chromatographic – electroantennographic detection (GC–EAD) analyses of extracts of spruce seed cone volatiles, &gt; 17 compounds elicited antennal responses from male and female C . strobilella . A blend of seven compounds, including (−)-α-pinene and (−)-β-pinene, α-longipinene and α-humulene, Z 3-hexenol, methyl eugenol, and cymen-8-ol, was more attractive to female C . strobilella in laboratory bioassay experiments than the complete seed cone volatile blend, containing these compounds at equivalent quantities and ratios. In GC–EAD analyses of volatile extracts from nonhost angiosperm trees, EAD-activity was associated with compounds present in (almost) every volatile source, including trembling aspen, Populus tremuloides (Michx.) (Salicaceae), paper birch, Betula papyrifera (Marsh.) (Betulaceae), black Cottonwood, Populus balsamifera trichocarpa (Torr. and Gray) (Salicaceae), and bigleaf maple, Acer macrophyllum (Pursh.) (Aceraceae). In a field experiment in the interior of British Columbia, the antennally active nonhost aldehydes, alcohols, and (±)-conophthorin all reduced captures of male C . strobilella in pheromone-baited traps. Collectively, our data suggest that host selection by C . strobilella is mediated, in part, by semiochemicals from both host and nonhost trees.