Hexanal, a major volatile found in fresh peanut seed, elicits foraging behavior in the laboratory-reared brown marmorated stink bug, Halyomorpha halys (Heteroptera: Pentatomidae)

Abstract

Phytophagous insects utilize visual, olfactory and gustatory cues to find food. The brown marmorated stink bug, Halyomorpha halys (Stål), quickly approaches fresh peanut seeds newly introduced into the rearing cage in the laboratory but shows less interest in stale peanut seed previously infested by conspecifics. This observation suggests that H. halys can perceive the quality of food by detecting the volatile(s) from fresh peanut seeds. A bioassay revealed that H. halys adults could more quickly find fresh peanut seeds than three-day-infested peanut seeds, which is consistent with laboratory observations. Hexanal was found to be the major volatile component of fresh peanut seeds but not of previously infested ones. In the two-choice assays, the adult bugs that did respond were significantly attracted to fresh peanut volatiles and hexanal. Hexanal also induced proboscis-protruding behavior in adult H. halys, which suggested that this compound is a key stimulant of foraging behavior of laboratory-reared H. halys adults.