Field evaluation of herbivore-induced plant volatiles as attractants for beneficial insects:: Methyl salicylate and the green lacewing, Chrysopa nigricornis

Synthetic methyl salicylate (MeSA), a herbivore-induced plant volatile (HIPV), was demonstrated to be an attractant for the green lacewing, Chrysopa nigricornis, in two field experiments conducted in a Washington hop yard. Significantly greater numbers of C. nigricornis were trapped on MeSA-baited sticky cards (mean: 2.8 +/- 0.4/card/week) than on unbaited cards (0.45 +/- 0.15) during June-September. Cards baited with two other HIPVs, hexenyl acetate and dimethyl nonatriene, did not attract more C. nigricornis than did unbaited traps (0.30 +/- 0.10, 0.44 +/- 0.15, respectively). MeSA-baited Unitraps captured 1.9 +/- 0.5 C. nigricornis/trap/week during July-August compared to 0.20 +/- 0.20/trap/week in methyl eugenol-baited traps and 0.03 +/- 0.03/trap/week in unbaited traps. The potential use of MeSA in enhancing C: nigricornis populations in Washington hop yards as an aid to conservation biological control of aphids and mites is discussed.