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© 2024 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). Notwithstanding the ProQuest Terms and Conditions, you may use this content in accordance with the terms of the License.

Abstract

Simple Summary

The two closely related maize and rice weevils exhibit differential host preferences among stored maize, wheat, and paddy grains. The maize weevil adults prefer to select maize, followed by paddy and wheat, while rice weevil adults mainly migrate towards wheat. The 2-ethylhexanol, piperitone, and (+)-Δ-cadiene are the major components in volatiles from both maize and wheat, but the abundance of these chemicals is much lower in maize than in wheat. The volatile limonene was only detected in paddy. The 2-ethylhexanol, piperitone, and (+)-Δ-cadiene were all attractive to both weevils, whereas limonene was attractive only to rice weevils. The different volatile profiles among the grains and the sensitivity of the two pest species towards these volatiles may explain the behavioral differences between maize and rice weevils in selecting host grains. The variance in sensitivity of maize and rice weevils towards host volatile chemicals with abundance differences is likely a determinant driving the two insect species to migrate towards different host grains.

Abstract

The Sitophilus zeamais (maize weevil) and Sitophilus oryzae (rice weevil) are two insect pests that have caused huge economic losses to stored grains worldwide. It is urgent to develop an environmentally friendly strategy for the control of these destructive pests. Here, the olfactory-mediated selection preference of the two weevil species to three stored grains was analyzed, which should help establish a pull–push system in managing them. Bioassays showed that maize weevil adults prefer to select maize, followed by paddy and wheat, while rice weevil adults mainly migrate towards wheat. Volatile analyses revealed that 2-ethylhexanol, piperitone, and (+)-Δ-cadiene are the major components in volatiles from both maize and wheat, but the abundance of these chemicals is much lower in maize than that in wheat. The volatile limonene was only detected in paddy. Y-tube bioassays suggest that 2-ethylhexanol, piperitone, and (+)-Δ-cadiene were all attractive to both weevils, whereas limonene was attractive only to rice weevils. Overall, maize weevil appeared more sensitive to the tested volatiles based on having much lower effective concentrations of these volatiles needed to attract them. The differences in volatile profiles among the grains and the sensitivity of the two species towards these volatiles may explain the behavioral differences between maize and rice weevils in selecting host grains. The differences in sensitivity of maize and rice weevils towards host volatile components with abundance differences are likely determinants driving the two insect species to migrate towards different host grains.

Details

Title
Host Volatiles Potentially Drive Two Evolutionarily Related Weevils to Select Different Grains
Author
Lu, Shaohua 1   VIAFID ORCID Logo  ; Zhang, Lingfang 1 ; Lu, Yujie 2   VIAFID ORCID Logo  ; Chen, Mingshun 3 ; Wang, Zhengyan 1 

 School of Food and Strategic Reserves, Henan University of Technology, Zhengzhou 450001, China; [email protected] (S.L.); [email protected] (L.Z.); [email protected] (Z.W.) 
 School of Food and Strategic Reserves, Henan University of Technology, Zhengzhou 450001, China; [email protected] (S.L.); [email protected] (L.Z.); [email protected] (Z.W.); School of Grain Science and Technology, Jiangsu University of Science and Technology, Zhenjiang 212100, China 
 USDA-ARS-PSERU, Kansas State University, Manhattan, KS 66506, USA; [email protected] 
First page
300
Publication year
2024
Publication date
2024
Publisher
MDPI AG
e-ISSN
20754450
Source type
Scholarly Journal
Language of publication
English
ProQuest document ID
3059447289
Copyright
© 2024 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). Notwithstanding the ProQuest Terms and Conditions, you may use this content in accordance with the terms of the License.