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About the Authors:
Dong H. Cha
Affiliation: Department of Entomology, New York State Agricultural Experiment Station, Cornell University, Geneva, New York, United States of America
Charles E. Linn Jr.
Affiliation: Department of Entomology, New York State Agricultural Experiment Station, Cornell University, Geneva, New York, United States of America
Peter E. A. Teal
Affiliation: Chemistry Research Unit, Center for Medical, Agricultural and Veterinary Entomology, Agricultural Research Service, United States Department of Agriculture, Gainesville, Florida, United States of America
Aijun Zhang
Affiliation: Invasive Insect Biocontrol and Behavior Laboratory, Plant Sciences Institute, Agricultural Research Service, United States Department of Agriculture, Beltsville, Maryland, United States of America
Wendell L. Roelofs
Affiliation: Department of Entomology, New York State Agricultural Experiment Station, Cornell University, Geneva, New York, United States of America
Gregory M. Loeb
* E-mail: [email protected]
Affiliation: Department of Entomology, New York State Agricultural Experiment Station, Cornell University, Geneva, New York, United States of America
Introduction
Understanding the mechanisms used by herbivorous insects to recognize and find suitable hosts has ecological, evolutionary and economic significance as herbivorous insects play vital roles in ecosystem functioning by mediating transfer of energy and nutrients [1], while also competing with humans for food [2]. Volatiles play a critical role in the evolution of host use by phytophagous arthropods [3] and the ability to efficiently eavesdrop on the host plant from a distance [4], [5] has contributed to the success of these organisms [6]. Contrary to initial expectations, the majority of phytophagous insects use a mixture of ubiquitous volatile compounds, rather than unique, host-specific compounds in the host finding process [7], [8]. Complicating matters further, volatile emissions from plants are not static but greatly vary due to a number of biotic and abiotic factors [9]–[12]. This raises the question of how phytophagous insects extract host specific information from the mixture of common plant volatiles that vary in both time and space.
Although release of plant volatiles occurs, to some extent, as the unintended consequence of biochemical processes [13], there is good evidence that plant volatiles serve important plant fitness enhancing functions, such as pollinator attraction or natural enemy recruitment [14]–[19]. In contrast, phytophagous insects are not the intended receiver of the host volatiles, and may have been selected for the ability to eavesdrop on the...