9604134 Hildebrand Many insects, including significant agricultural pests, use their olfactory system to recognize and select plants for egg-laying sites and food. This multidisciplinary project analyzes the way volatile chemicals emitted by plants are used by insects to do this. Parallel studies analyze the release and chemical composition of plant chemicals and investigate the behavior of insects during odor guided recognition, orientation, and flight towards plants or their released chemicals. This project is one of the very few to address the important issue of insect-plant interactions comprehensively with attention given to the biology of plants, the chemistry of plant compounds, and the behavior and neurobiology of insects. Findings of this research will benefit ongoing basic research into plant chemistry and into the way organisms recognize, analyze, and respond to complex odors. It addition, the project should yield insights into insect-plant interactions that will be useful in the agricultural arena for designing new strategies for protection of crop plants from insect predation.
