Changes in volatile emissions from apple trees and associated response of adult female codling moths over the fruit-growing season

Odors in the headspace of apple trees were characterized by in situ volatile collections in the orchard. Sixty-two compounds were quantitatively identified with thermal desorption-gas chromatography-mass spectrometry over the complete fruit-growing season. Overall quantities in the headspace of fruit-bearing twig were highest at petal fall and at the beginning of June and August. Interestingly, the latter two periods coincide with the flight maxima of the codling moth, Cydia pomonella, one of the principal pest insects of apple fruit worldwide. Dual-choice bioassays with mated adult female moths in a Y-tube olfactometer showed that the blend of plant-derived volatiles repelled this key pest of apple at petal fall and attracted it from July to mid-August. Single-component analysis indicated that benzaldehyde and butyl acetate might contribute to the observed repellent effect, but the constituents accounting for the attractant effect mid-season remain to be further elucidated. The attractant effect clearly originates from the apple fruit and not from the twig with leaves, as bioassays demonstrated conclusively.