Grapevine is commonly referred to as the most prominent crop in certain regions, particularly in Taif in Saudi Arabia. As with other crops, grapevine is threatened by pests such as Aphis illinoissensis. Ants are well-known as an associated insect of aphids, making different mutualistic relationships. From other perspectives, ladybirds are protecting grapevines from aphids, creating a detrimental relationship with aphids, but a beneficial relationship with grapevine. The chemosphere is the result of the different relationships happening around the grapevine, where airborne metabolites mediate beneficial and detrimental interactions. Thus, exploring the changes in exo-metabolites excreted in the chemosphere is necessary. The chemosphere's alteration of airborne metabolites was used in our study to (1) detect of the composition of the grapevine community which resulted in five communities’ as follows: Intact grapevine, A. illinoissensis-infested grapevine, infested grapevine with ant, infested grapevine with ladybird, and infested grapevine with ladybird and ant, (2) non-destructive early-stage diagnosis of the aphid, (3) sustainable management of ant-aphid associations, and (4) understanding of the success of predator-prey dynamics for biological control. The status-dependent compounds of the grapevine can serve as indicators of infestation status and contribute to non-destructive early-stage diagnosis of the aphid.
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