Behavioural response of the parasitoid Cotesia flavipes to herbivore induced volatiles in sweet sorghum

Plants emit a variety of compounds in response to an attack by herbivores. Herbivore-induced plant volatiles (HIPVs) mediate interactions between plants and natural enemies. Volatiles were collected from sweet sorghum plants oviposited by Chilo partellus Swinhoe and the response of the parasitoid Cotesia flavipes Cameron to these volatiles were tested in four-arm olfactometer. Cotesia flavipes spent significantly more time (6.52 ± 0.72 min, p = 0.0000) in arm treated with C. partellus oviposited plant volatiles compared to untreated control (3.17 ± 0.19 min). These compounds were identified by GC-MS as octanal, decanal, nonanal, 6-methyl 5 heptanone and caryophyllene. Nonanal and decanal were 8.46 and 4.66%, respectively in plants with Chilo eggs, whereas in the control plants, it was 5.48 and 1.39%, respectively. The behavior of parasitoid towards HIPVs enhances the development of sustainable IPM strategies by manipulating the foraging behaviour of parasitoids.