OLFACTORY RESPONSE OF MITES (ACARI: TETRANYCHIDAE: PHYTOSEIIDAE) TO HERBIVORIA-INDUCED CASSAVA VOLATILES

Abstract

locating prey or hosts by natural enemies and attracting or repelling other herbivores. Thus, the objective of the present study was to verify the influence of VOC induced by herbivory of green-mite, Mononychellus tanajoa, on cassava plants, on the behavior of co-specific and predatory mite Neoseiulus idaeus. To perform the bioassays, the plants were infested with 500 individuals for 72h and the behavior of the mites was observed using a Y-olfactometer. Herbivorous (P = 0,007905) and predatory (P = 0,0001206) mites showed a preference for uninfested plants over clean air, suggesting that the plants produce VOCs that are attractive for both. By observing M. tanajoa's preference between uninfested and infested plants, it was found that most mites preferred uninfested plants (P = 0,007508), indicating that herbivores may be avoiding competition and moving to locations to which natural enemies can be attracted. When testing predator preference between uninfested and infested plants, the mites preferred the plants subjected to herbivory (P = 0,00956). These induced compounds alert natural enemies that the plant is being consumed, increasing its chances of success in finding food, and are more reliable than constitutively produced, as they indicate the possible presence of the resource. Through this study we can observe that cassava plants submitted to herbivory emits VOCs that influence the behavior of herbivorous and predatory mites. Researches in this sense are fundamental to understand the importance of VOCs in the structure of arthropod and plant communities, exploring their effects at the different trophic levels involved.