Towards Eco-Chemical Pest Management: Volatile-Mediated Interactions Among Pomegranate, Aphids, Ladybirds, and Ants

Volatile organic compounds can mediate interactions among plants, herbivores and natural enemies. This study described VOC profiles in a sequential Punica granatum, Aphis punicae, Coccinella undecimpunctata and Tapinoma magnum system. Detached branches were maintained in tap water and followed through six consecutive stages in the same chambers. Headspace was collected by closed-loop stripping with charcoal traps and analysed by GC-MS. Fifty putative annotations were retained across 32 biological profiles. These profiles were repeated observations from branch-chamber units, not 32 independent plants. VOC richness and composition varied along the sequence. Later stages had lower primary quantitative richness and less strict, replicated support, with reduced analytical coverage. In Bioassay A1, the P1-APH1-04h and P2-LB-04h crude-extract preparations produced greater central-circle approach responses than the solvent control after Holm adjustment (p = 0.0108 and 0.0260). Bioassays B, C and D were exploratory. No individual pairwise comparison in these assays was statistically significant. Greater consumption in an extract arm could not be separated from greater predator occupancy. Visual branch controls were maintained, but no time-matched control VOC series was analysed. The chemical results therefore describe the evolving sequential system and do not isolate the effects of individual organisms. P1-APH1-04h merits further testing with confirmed compounds, defined blends and larger independent experiments.