Female European Tarnished Plant Bugs, Lygus rugulipennis (Heteroptera: Miridae), are Attracted to Odours from Conspecific Females

Abstract

Responses of the European tarnished plant bug, Lygus rugulipennis, to conspecific and host plant odours were tested in an olfactometer. Females were attracted to the odour of other females, suggesting the existence of an aggregation mechanism. This is the first evidence for female-female attraction in Lygus and contrasts with the American species, L. lineolaris, in which aggregation is mediated by male odours. Males were attracted to females and to the female sex pheromone component (E)-2-hexenyl butyrate. Females were not attracted to this compound. There were differences between the sexes in their responses to host plant odours. Females were attracted to odour from Trifolium pratense, Medicago falcata, and M. saliva. Males were attracted only to M. saliva.