EUROPEAN JOURNAL OF ENTOMOLOGYENTOMOLOGY ISSN (online): 1802-8829 Eur. J. Entomol. 116: 392–401, 2019 http://www.eje.cz doi: 10.14411/eje.2019.040 ORIGINAL ARTICLE Oviposition preference and olfactory response of Diaphania indica (Lepidoptera: Pyralidae) to volatiles of uninfested and infested cucurbitaceous host plants AMIN MOGHBELI GHARAEI 1, MAHDI ZIAADDINI 1, *, MOHAMMAD AMIN JALALI 1 and BRIGITTE FREROT 2 1 Department of Plant Protection, College of Agriculture, Vali-e-Asr University of Rafsanjan, Rafsanjan, Iran; e-mails:
[email protected],
[email protected],
[email protected] 2 INRA, UMR 1392, iEES Paris, Route de St Cyr, 78000 Versailles, France; e-mail:
[email protected] Key words. Lepidoptera, Pyralidae, Diaphania indica, cucumber moth, host volatiles, olfactory response, wind tunnel, oviposition, Cucurbitaceae, Citrullus lanatus, Cucumis melo, Cucumis sativus, Cucurbita pepo Abstract. The cucumber moth, Diaphania indica (Saunders) (Lepidoptera: Pyralidae), is a major pest of cucurbitaceous plants. The oviposition preference and olfactory response of larvae, mated and unmated male and female adults to volatiles emanating from uninfested and infested plants of four species of cucurbitaceous host plants and odours of conspecifi cs were recorded. Also the role of experience in the host fi nding behaviour of D. indica was evaluated. The experiments were done using a wind tunnel, olfactometer attraction assays and oviposition bioassays. The results reveal that fewer eggs were laid on infested plants than on uninfested plants. Females signifi cantly preferred cucumber over squash, melon and watermelon. Cucurbitaceous plants elicited adults of D. indica to fl y upwind followed by landing on the plants.