The objective of this study was to evaluate the role of host volatiles in the relationship between a blueberry plant Vaccinium corymbosum L. Volatiles from the aerial part of different phenological stages of the host were collected on Porapak Q and analyzed by coupled gas chromatographyβmass spectrometry GC-MS.
Several chemical groups were identified including green leaf volatiles, aromatic compounds, and terpenes. The olfactometric responses of A. Blueberry shoots at the phenological stages of fruit set, and blue-pink fruit color elicited the greatest behavioral responses from weevils. Five compounds 2-nonanone, eucalyptol, R - and S -limonene, and 4-ethyl benzaldehyde elicited an attractant behavioral response from A. The results suggest the host location behavior of A. This work has identified a number of compounds with which it is possible to develop a lure for the principal pest of blueberry in southern Chile.
Volatile blends released from plants may contain hundreds of different components. Some of them are characteristic for a plant family, but many compounds can be found in the blend that occur in many different and unrelated plants Knudsen et al. The emission and composition of the volatile compounds emitted are dependent on internal factors of the plant, such as the phenological stage, as well as external factors including light, temperature, and humidity. There is also variation in chemistry between and even within the tissues of individual plants Gouinguene and Turlings , Dudareva et al.
Plant volatiles play a major role in the behavioral responses that determine the performance, survival, and development of insects Vet and Dicke Chemicals involved in conveying information in intra- and interspecific interactions between organisms are known as semiochemicals Howse et al. Perception of these kairomones may provide relevant information to insects about the feeding suitability of the host or their potential as an oviposition site Byers et al.
Although A. Larvae of the weevil cause severe damage to the roots of crops such as blueberry Vaccinium corymbosum L. Adult weevils are also active consumers of young leaves and blueberry fruits during the day, whereas at sunset, they walk down to the stems of the plant Carrillo , Aguilera The life cycle of A. There is much overlap between their different stages: 1 the females deposit fertilized eggs on the soil surface of crop fields December to mid-March when the plant is in the phenological stages of ripening blueberry; 2 larval stages develop from March to mid-December; 3 the pupal stage begins in September when the plant is in the phenological stage of full bloom and continues through early October; and 4 the adult emerges in September and copulates in January and February, depending on the temperature the copulation can begin in December.
