Analysis of the Attractive Effect of Aroma Compounds from Angelica acutiloba Kitagawa on the Winged Aphid Aphis gossypii Glover (Hemiptera: Aphididae)

Angelica acutiloba Kitagawa roots are used as ingredients in many herbal medicines in Japan. This study conducted field experiments using sticky traps during the growing period from 2023 to 2025 to assess the behavioral responses of aphids in relation to the aroma compounds from A. acutiloba Kitagawa. In a preliminary trial in 2023, essential oils (EOs) from A. acutiloba Kitagawa leaves were applied to sticky traps, which captured more winged aphids than untreated control traps. In 2024, although it was likely to attract the aphids with the EO-treated traps, no significant differences were observed between the EO-treated and control traps owing to the extremely low small number of aphids. However, in 2025, aphid abundance increased and significantly more aphids were captured in the EO-treated traps than in the untreated traps. Most of the captured winged aphids were Aphis gossypii Glover (Hemiptera: Aphididae). In a follow-up experiment, traps treated with (Z)-ligustilide, isolated from the EOs, captured significantly more aphids than the control traps. A two-choice response test using a Y-tube olfactometer showed no significant behavioral responses (such as attraction or avoidance) toward the wingless aphid A. gossypii. The findings of the present study suggest that developing the EO- or (Z)-ligustilide treated traps to capture winged aphids on A. acutiloba may be an environmentally friendly and effective way to manage these insects.