Behavioral response of western flower thrips to visual and olfactory cues

Bishwo Prasad Mainali, Un Taek Lim Lim

    Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

    38 Citations (Scopus)

    Abstract

    Behavioral responses of Frankliniella occidentalis Pergande (Thysanoptera: Thripidae) to visual and olfactory cues were assessed in a cylindrical black box and a Y-tube olfactometer. Frankliniella occidentalis preferred circular shapes to other five geometrical patterns (rectangle, triangle, inverted triangle, diamond, and modified circle imitating flower petals) in multiple choice tests. In pair wise choice tests, the thrips preferred the yellow artificial flower shape to the geometrical patterns tested. Frankliniella occidentalis stayed on the artificial flower about four times longer than on the geometrical patterns. Higher numbers of thrips responded to a combination of p-anisaldehyde and artificial flower compared to the arm with only the olfactory or the visual cue. These results suggest that shape is an important cue for F. occidentalis.
    Original languageEnglish
    Pages (from-to)436-446
    Number of pages11
    JournalJournal of Insect Behavior
    Volume24
    Issue number6
    DOIs
    Publication statusPublished - 2011

    Keywords

    • Frankliniella occidentalis
    • sticky card
    • flower model
    • olfactometer
    • anisaldehyde
    • ethyl nicotinate

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