EU - DLSU International Collaborative Research Laboratory

📣 Research alert! DOI:- https://doi.org/10.1007/s11829-025-10164-y

Feeding by the mirid bug Helopeltis bakeri Poppius alters the emission of host plant volatiles

Nobody likes a pesky pest. Of which, the mirid bug, Helopeltis bakeri Poppius, is a polyphagous pest that feeds on a wide range of plants, including key crops such as cocoa (Theobroma cacao) and sweet potato (Ipomoea batatas). Despite its agricultural importance, we still don't know much about how this insect interacts with its hosts! In this study, the authors looked into the response of sweet potato under H. bakeri feeding events. Volatile collections revealed that infestation induced the production of a compound, the terpene squalene, along with increased emissions of other volatiles, including multiple terpenes, terpenoids, and the green leaf volatile (Z)-3-hexenyl acetate.

Electroantennographic and behavioral assays indicated that squalene did not elicit electrophysiological or behavioral responses in H. bakeri, perhaps its ecological role may lie outside direct insect–plant signaling. While these exciting findings provide useful baseline data on host–pest interactions, their broader ecological significance remains mysterious, particularly because the natural enemies of H. bakeri are not yet known. Identifying these natural enemies and investigating their responses to plant volatiles will be the next big step in understanding the multitrophic interactions that shape this pest–plant system.