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ARS Home » Plains Area » Fargo, North Dakota » Edward T. Schafer Agricultural Research Center » Sugarbeet Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #435800
Research Project: Improving Sugarbeet Productivity and Sustainability through Genetic, Genomic, Physiological, and Phytopathological Approaches

Location: Sugarbeet Research

Title: Unifying perspectives: Plant volatiles shape insect behaviors, communities, and ecosystem services for sustainable agriculture

Author
item THOMPSON, MORGAN - University Of California, Riverside
item Russavage, Emily
item BERNAUER, OLIVIA - University Of Wisconsin

Submitted to: Environmental Entomology
Publication Type: Review Article
Publication Acceptance Date: 7/9/2026
Publication Date: N/A
Citation: N/A

Interpretive Summary: Plants naturally release a rich variety of scents, or volatile organic compounds, which are crucial for their interactions with insects. While scientists have identified many of these scents that can attract helpful pollinators and pest-eating insects or repel harmful crop pests, a significant challenge remains: how to effectively use this knowledge in agriculture to simultaneously draw in beneficial insects while keeping pests away. To address this, a special collection of research has brought together chemical ecologists to synthesize our understanding of how these plant scents influence different insect behaviors. By highlighting how a single scent can have diverse effects across various insect groups, this collaborative effort aims to inspire new studies and foster a more holistic understanding, ultimately contributing to the development of sustainable solutions for managing pests and supporting farmers.

Technical Abstract: Plants emit an incredible abundance and diversity of volatile organic compounds. These compounds play important roles in ecological interactions. Over many decades, chemical ecologists have identified hundreds of plant volatiles that attract or repel insect herbivores, pollinators, and natural enemies. However, much debate remains around how to apply this understanding to agricultural systems for the attraction of beneficial pollinators and natural enemies while simultaneously repelling insect pests. The goal of this special collection is to unite chemical ecologists who study insect behavioral responses to plant volatiles, synthesizing our understanding of which volatiles regulate behaviors across herbivores, pollinators, and natural enemies. This collection will highlight how plant volatiles can have multiple separate effects on different insects and inspire future studies that cross insect functional groups to develop a more holistic understanding of plant volatiles and applications in agricultural systems. We briefly describe the papers contributed to the special collection and posit future directions for research.