Volatile organic compounds released by barley roots attract wireworms

Wireworms are the soil dwelling larvae of click beetles and are pests of many crops worldwide. Alternatives to insecticide treatments are needed in order to develop integrated management strategies. Our work consists in elucidating the role of barley root-emitted volatile organic compounds on the orientation behaviour of Agriotes sordidus wireworms. Using a dual choice olfactometer we have evaluated the attractiveness of a variety of baits ranging from barley roots themselves to isolated root-emitted volatile organic compounds. Wireworms were significantly attracted towards most of the tested baits. Our results should be taken into account in varietal selection, in crop rotation, or in trapping systems aiming at the reduction of the populations of this pest.