It ‘smells like fear’: Scientists Create Diffuser That Could Keep Pests Off Garden Plants

A “scary-smelling” diffuser could help keep pests away from garden plants, according to a new study.

The special scent is made up of compounds produced by ladybugs, a natural predator of herbivorous insects that devastate gardens and crops.

Pests that perceive a whiff will change their behavior, thinking that predators are nearby.

Herbivorous insects pose a great threat to gardeners and farmers’ crops around the world, especially as they can transmit diseases and are increasingly resistant to traditional pesticides.

Now, researchers at Pennsylvania State University have found an aromatic solution.

Study author Dr. Sara Hermann said: “It is not uncommon to use our senses to avoid risky situations. If a building were to catch fire, we, as human beings, could use our senses of sight or smell to detect the threat.

“There is evidence of such behavioral responses to risk in all taxa suggesting that prey organisms can detect predation threats, but the detection mechanisms are not very well understood, especially with insects.”

Aphids are very destructive and their ability to transmit plant diseases makes them a persistent problem for growers.

They also happen to be a favorite food of ladybugs, which gardeners and farmers welcome as a kind of natural pest control. That’s because aphids and other herbivorous insects will stay away from fields if they can smell nearby predators, the researchers found.

The smells that ladybugs give off tell aphids to stop reproducing so much and to grow larger wings, behaviors that are considered to avoid threats.

The research team identified and extracted the “volatile odor” from ladybugs using gas chromatography, a technique that separates the different components of an odor.

The aphids were then exposed to each component individually to see which one had the greatest reaction.

The strength of his response was based on the signal picked up by an EEG machine, which is specifically designed to test insects’ reactions to odors.

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Of the many compounds emitted by ladybugs, the strongest response was to a class of chemical compounds known as methoxypyrazines.

Specifically, these included isopropyl methoxypyrazine, isobutyl methoxypyrazine, and sec-butyl methoxypyrazine.

A special scent mixture was then created, which can be placed in an essential oil diffuser to spread the scent over time in a garden or field.

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According to a statement, the researchers now they hope to test their diffusers outdoors to see if they produce the same results.

They are also looking to measure the spread area of ​​diffusers and see if they could be applied to other pests, predators, and crops.

Study co-author Dr. Jessica Kansman added: “Insects rely on olfactory cues to find food, mates, and places to live, so this is a great opportunity to investigate how to use these smells to manipulate their behavior.” .

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