Behavioral Responses of Green Peach Aphid, Myzus persicae (Sulzer), to the Volatile Organic Compound Emissions from Four Potato Varieties

Green peach aphid Myzus persicae (Sulzer) is a serious pest of potato and causes severe yield loss to potato production worldwide. The volatiles emitted from potato plants influence host selection by M. persicae. A laboratory experiment was conducted to study how these volatile emissions vary among four potato varieties (IdaRose, Desiree, Chipeta and Russet Burbank) having different genetic backgrounds, and to compare the aphid responses to the volatiles emitted by these varieties. Results indicated that headspace volatiles detected, and aphid responses, differed significantly among the varieties. Myzus persicae arrestment was greater in response to Desiree and Chipeta than on Russet Burbank and arrestment on IdaRose was intermediate and did not differ significantly from any of the other varieties, but the arrestment was not related to the total concentration of volatiles released by these varieties. This indicates that the blend of volatiles was important for eliciting arrestment. Eigenvector weightings of principal component 1 were predominantly sesquiterpenes (especially caryophyllene, sesquiphellandrene, α-farnesene and longifolene), whereas those for principal component 2 were predominantly aldehydes and green leaf volatiles (n-hexana1, (Z)-3-hexenol, (E)-2-hexenal and nonanal. The pedigrees of the varieties are not associated with the volatile blends or aphid responses.