Effects of Plant Volatiles on the EAG Response and Behaviour of Saperda populnea L. (Coleoptera: Cerambycidae)

Abstract

Essential oil in the branches of eleven varieties of Populus L. at different periods were extracted using the steam distillation method and the chemical composition and relative content of volatile oil from these branches were investigated by GC-MS technology. EAG response of Saperda populnea L. adults to the volatile oil from branches and their behavioural response in the Y-tube olfactometer were tested. The results shown that the male and female adults of S. populnea were more responsive and showed obvious selectivity to volatile oil from P. aigeiros duby section such as P. deltoides Marsh × P. cathayana Rehd., P. simonii Carr. × P. nigra L. and P. × euramericana 'DN113' than to the volatile oil from P. davidiana Dode × P. bolleana Lauche and P. alba L. × P. berolinensis Dipp. The main content of essential oil were alcohols, ketones, alkanes, terpenes and heterocyclic compounds; 1,2-cyclohexanedione and 2-cyclohexen-1-one existed in the essential oil at growing and dormancy period of all of the tested poplar varities and thus can be speculated as specific odor components or their derivatives. The relative content of aromaticity components in essential oil was higher in growing plants than that in dormant plants.