Botanical Volatiles Selection in Mediating Electrophysiological Responses and Reproductive Behaviors for the Fall Webworm Moth Hyphantria cunea

Abstract

Host-plant volatiles play vital roles for insects to locate foraging, mating, and oviposition sites in the environment. As one of the devastating invasive forestry pests, <i>Hyphantria cunea</i> causes a great annual loss in China, and understanding its chemical ecology is an important task. The current research was done in terms of chemical analysis, electrophysiology, and behavioral assays on <i>H. cunea</i> to assess its olfactory reception toward host-plant volatiles. A screen of possible common host volatiles was done, targeting on five favored hosts of <i>H. cunea</i>, harvesting six potential bioactive compounds from a total of 78 odorant components. Six types of antennal sensilla were investigated on their distributions on the antennae, and sexual dimorphism was described. <i>H. cunea</i> showed responses to all selected host-related volatiles in electroantennogram tests, and linalyl butyrate elicited the strongest responses. Furthermore, mating rates in adult pairs that are exposed to dibutyl phthalate and phytol have been significantly increased, while oviposition rates and female fecundity were not influenced. The results of the current study provide initial evidence showing that universal host-derived volatile cues are essential for <i>H. cunea</i> moth in terms of mating, which can also provide insights into the development of botanical attractants.