Stink bugs (Pentatomidae) are getting more and more into the focus of interest. Due to the economic importance of pentatomid pests, their research is intensifying, however, there are many open questions concerning their ecology and behaviour. In the course of their studies on Eurydema ornata, researchers of HUN-REN Centre for Agricultural Research, Plant Protection Institute (HUN-REN CAR PPI) have found a plant volatile that attracts adults of the species and may provide a basis for the development of environment-friendly management solutions against this pest. The study summarizing results of this research has been published in Scientific Reports.
Chemical ecology explores the chemically mediated interactions between organisms and their environment. Most of the studies focus on compounds of intraspecific communication – for instance on sex pheromones of insect species – and many previous results have yielded valuable applications in practice of pest management.
The primary research interest are sex- and aggregation pheromones in pentatomids as well, however, there are several questions concerning these aspects. For some species the studies have found that the identified pheromones do not attract the bugs to the odour source, those land in the relative vicinity instead and apply other communication methods for finding the partner. Several species use vibrational communication through the plant for courtship. However, this complex communication system may complicate research and the development of appropriate tools for plant protection purposes.
Results of international research found for several pentatomid species that although the compounds elicit behavioural response, bugs were not lured into traps with them. Thus, in some studies baits were set out on plants and landing bugs were counted. However, this approach is less advantageous in respect of practical application, as it does not result in development of traps for monitoring.
Recently in the course of their laboratory and field research on Eurydema ornata, researchers of HUN-REN CAR PPI have found a plant volatile that attracts adults of the species. An interesting aspect of the discovery is that this research provided the first results on field attraction of an Eurydema species.
The practical value of trapping the bugs with a compound is that it may provide basis for development of environment-friendly tools of pest control. Furthermore, the results also highlight the potential perspectives of plant volatiles in research of pentatomid bugs.