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      Caterpillar-induced nocturnal plant volatiles repel conspecific females.

      1 , ,
      Nature
      Springer Science and Business Media LLC

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          Abstract

          Plants respond to insect herbivory by synthesizing and releasing complex blends of volatile compounds, which provide important host-location cues for insects that are natural enemies of herbivores. The effects of these volatile blends on herbivore behaviour have been investigated to only a limited extent, in part because of the assumption that herbivore-induced volatile emissions occur mainly during the light phase of the photoperiod. Because many moths-whose larvae are some of the most important insect herbivores-are nocturnal, herbivore-induced plant volatiles have not hitherto been considered to be temporally available as host-location cues for ovipositing females. Here we present chemical and behavioural assays showing that tobacco plants (Nicotiana tabacum) release herbivore-induced volatiles during both night and day. Moreover, several volatile compounds are released exclusively at night and are highly repellent to female moths (Heliothis virescens). The demonstration that tobacco plants release temporally different volatile blends and that lepidopteran herbivores use induced plant signals released during the dark phase to choose sites for oviposition adds a new dimension to our understanding of the role of chemical cues in mediating tritrophic interactions.

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          Author and article information

          Journal
          Nature
          Nature
          Springer Science and Business Media LLC
          0028-0836
          0028-0836
          Mar 29 2001
          : 410
          : 6828
          Affiliations
          [1 ] USDA-ARS, CMAVE, PO Box 14565, Gainesville, Florida 32604, USA.
          Article
          35069058
          10.1038/35069058
          11279494
          79923559-61c7-4db8-96cc-c36a0e00c1a9
          History

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