Attraction of pea moth Cydia nigricana to pea flower volatiles

The pea moth Cydia nigricana causes major crop losses in pea (Pisum sativum) production. We investigated attraction of C. nigricana females to synthetic pea flower volatiles in a wind tunnel and in the field. We performed electroantennogram analysis on 27 previously identified pea plant volatiles, which confirmed antennal responses to nine of the compounds identified in pea flowers. A dose-dependent response was found to eight of the compounds. Various blends of the nine pea flower volatiles eliciting antennal responses were subsequently studied in a wind tunnel. A four-compound blend comprising hexan-1-ol, (E)-2-hexen-1-ol, (Z)-β-ocimene and (E)-β-ocimene was equally attractive to mated C. nigricana females as the full pea flower mimic blend. We conducted wind-tunnel tests on different blends of these four pea flower compounds mixed with a headspace sample of non-flowering pea plants. By considering the effects of such green leaf background odour, we were able to identify (Z)- and (E)-β-ocimene as fundamental for host location by the pea moths, and hexan-1-ol and (E)-2-hexen-1-ol as being of secondary importance in that context. In the field, the two isomers of β-ocimene resulted in trap catches similar to those obtained with the full pea flower mimic and the four-compound blend, which clearly demonstrated the prime significance of the β-ocimenes as attractants of C. nigricana. The high level of the trap catches of female C. nigricana noted in this first field experiment gives a first indication of the potential use of such artificial kairomones in pea moth control.