Assessing the Attractiveness of Volatile Plant Compounds to Western Flower Thrips Frankliniella occidentalis

The responses of walking adult female western flower thrips, Frankliniella occidentalis, to plant volatiles at several concentrations were investigated in a Y-shaped glass tube olfactometer. The simple experimental design allowed comparing the effect of numerous volatiles and differentiated clearly between attractive and repellent compounds. Western flower thrips were attracted by the benzenoids benzaldehyde and pand o-anisaldehyde; the monoterpenes geraniol, nerol, linalool, and (+)-citronellol; the sesquiterpene (E)-β-farnesene, eugenol, and 3-phenylpropionaldehyde; two phenylpropanoids; and the nonfloral odor ethyl nicotinate. p-Anisaldehyde, nerol, ethyl nicotinate, and (E)-β-farnesene elicited positive responses at several concentrations; all other volatiles were attractive at a specific concentration. Salicylaldehyde, a benzenoid, elicited negative responses at two concentrations. Experimental series with several other volatiles belonging to the above mentioned chemical groups and the essential oils from rose and geranium did not result in either clearly positive or negative responses by tested thrips.