Olfactory response of rove beetle, Paederus fuscipes (Curtis) to flower volatiles

Abstract

Flowers of five different plant species viz., green gram (Vigna radiata), marigold (Tagetes erecta), sunnhemp (Crotalaria juncea), cowpea (Vigna unguiculata), Okra (Abelmoschus esculentus) along with control (only air without flowers) were tested for their effectiveness in attracting predatory Paederus fuscipes (Curtis) in a six arm olfactometer at Indian Institute of Rice Research (IIRR), Hyderabad, Telangana, India. Flowers of different plant species acted as odour source to attract rove beetle. The order of preference of flower odours to P. fuscipes in descending order was cowpea > okra > green gram > marigold > sunhemp. Rove beetle attraction was high in cowpea followed by okra, green gram, marigold and the lowest population was recorded in sunhemp. These plant species could be used in rice systems as bund /border/strip crop to attract predatory rove beetle suppress rice pests.