Phytoseiulus persimilis is a small, blind, predatory mite less than 0.5 mm in size. It depends heavily on herbivore-induced plant volatiles (HIPV) as chemical cues for prey location. Previous research has revealed that this mite shows feeding state-dependent and odour-conditioned anemotactic responses towards the complete HIPV blend.

Although locomotion compensators (LC) have been successfully used for studying orientation behavior in insects, none have been suitable for tiny arthropods like mites. This is because it has not been possible to mount a reflecting substance (necessary to track the mite’s walking path) on the animal’s body without disturbing its natural behavior.

Here, we present the results of orientation behavior experiments on a newly developed, Kramer-type LC by Syntech, which is (to our knowledge) the first suitable apparatus for conducting such studies with small arthropods. The questions we will address are:

1. How does P. persimilis orientate towards the individual compounds of the HIPV blend (i.e. methyl salicylate, linalool, (3E)-4,8-dimethyl-1,3,7-nonatrien and (3E,7E)-4,8,12-trimethyl-1,3,7,11-tridecatetraen) and green leave volatiles (trans-2-hexen-1-ol and trans-2-hexen-1-al), in comparison with the complete HIPV blend (two-spotted spider mite infested bean leaves) and clean air?
2. How will the animal’s feeding state, either well-fed or starved, influence its orientation behavior towards these single compounds?

Paper presented at Measuring Behavior 2002 , 4^th International Conference on Methods and Techniques in Behavioral Research, 27-30 August 2002, Amsterdam, The Netherlands

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