Herbivore-Induced Plant Volatiles as a Rich Source of Information for Arthropod Predators: Fundamental and Applied Aspects

Abstract

Plants respond to arthropod herbivory with the induction of volatiles that attract predatory arthropods that attack the herbivores. These so-called herbivore-induced plant volatiles (HIPVs) appear to be important sources of information that mediate many interactions within a plant–arthropod community. Predators can use HIPVs to find a food source in a complex environment. Moreover, predator responses are modulated by starvation and specific dietary deficiencies. In addition, HIPVs can influence the behaviour and distribution of other community members such as parasitic plants, herbivores, and hyperparasitoids. The collective outcome of these interactions determines the effect of the HIPVs on plant fitness and this has fuelled a debate on whether HIPVs can be beneficial to plants. Interestingly, the origin of the research on HIPVs has been an investigation of how predatory mites exterminate populations of their prey, the herbivorous spider mites. The value of HIPVs for durable pest control is discussed.