Root feeding larvae increase their performance by inducing leaf volatiles that attract aboveground conspecific adults

1.Herbivore‐induced changes in plant volatile emissions mediate above‐belowground interactions by determining host plant colonization of different herbivores. By changing shoot‐emitted volatiles, belowground herbivores may use the plant to extend their capacity to interact with aboveground con‐ and heterospecifics.
2.We investigated the attractiveness of Triadica sebifera plants infested by larvae of a specialist beetle or root‐knot nematodes to aboveground herbivores. We then determined the contribution of leaf volatiles to the observed recruitment patterns using olfactometer experiments. We also identified volatiles through GC‐MS and electroantennography, and conducted field experiments to confirm their effects.
3.Leaf volatiles induced by the root‐feeding larvae attracted aboveground conspecific adults in laboratory and field experiments, but repelled a heterospecific specialist weevil, whereas induction by root‐knot nematodes had no effects on either. Greater leaf consumption by c...