VOLATILE SUBSTANCES EVOKING ORIENTATION IN THE PREDATORY FLOWERBUG ANTHOCRORIS-NEMORUM (HETEROPTERA, ANTHOCORIDAE)

Chemical signals produced by leaves of stinging nettle (Urtica dioica), goat willow (Salix caprea) and tomato (Lycopersicon esculentum) attracted Anthocoris nemorum Linnaeus in a Y-tube plexiglass-walled olfactometer. A. nemorum reacted to odours of chloroform extracts of tomato foliage but not to water or methanol extracts. On the other hand, methanol or water extract of U. dioica attracted A. nemorum, but it was not attracted to chloroform soluble fractions of this plant. Adult A. nemorum could not distinguish between odour released by the aphids Myzus persicae (Sulzer) or Brevicoryne brassicae Linnaeus (Homoptera: Aphididae) and leaf odours emitted by Brussels sprout (Brassica oleracea). However, A. nemorum reacted to and distinguished between odours coming from either Tetranychus urticae Koch or T. cinnabarinus Boisduval (Acari: Tetranychidae) and from clean French bean (Phaseolus vulgaris) leaves.