Methyl Salicylate

This afternoon, I read this (among a lot of other stuff) on Wikipedia:

If the plant is infested with herbivorous insects, the release of methyl salicylate may function as an aid in the recruitment of beneficial insects to kill the herbivorous insects.[ D. G. James, T. S. Price (August 2004). "Field-testing of methyl salicylate for recruitment and retention of beneficial insects in grapes and hops". J. Chem. Ecol. 30 (: 1613–28.] ... It is also used...as an odor masking agent for some organophosphate pesticides.

I didn't put this together until several hours after I read it. But in the shower later, I though: "It isn't for odor masking. Those crooks are eliminating the competition!"

And after a little thought, it occurred to me that a cheap and lazy version of the method described in the cited reference might be one of the following: if there are insects eating a plant, you might a) daub on a speck of Ben Gay, or b) suck on a Wintergreen lifesaver (or a generic equivalent) as you walk around, and spit some onto any infested plant, or c) crush a sprig of sweet birch or of eastern teaberry and wipe that near the infestation.

Here's the abstract and a link, for anyone interested in the reference:

Evidence for recruitment and retention of beneficial insects in grapes and hops using controlled-release dispensers of methyl salicylate (MeSA), a component of herbivore-induced volatile blends, is presented. In a replicated experiment conducted in a juice grape vineyard, sticky cards in blocks baited with MeSA captured significantly greater numbers of five species of predatory insects (Chrysopa nigricornis, Hemerobius sp., Deraeocoris brevis, Stethorus punctum picipes, Orius tristicolor) than unbaited blocks. Four insect families (Syrphidae, Braconidae, Empididae, Sarcophagidae) were also significantly more abundant in the MeSA-baited blocks, as indicated by sticky card captures. Canopy shake samples and sticky card monitoring conducted in a MeSA-baited, unsprayed hop yard indicated development and maintenance of a beneficial arthropod population that was nearly four times greater than that present in an unbaited reference yard. Four times as many S. punctum picipes and six times as many O. tristicolor were sampled in the MeSA yard. Similar contrasts in abundance of these predators and others were apparent when compared with levels recorded in the yard in previous years. The large population of predatory insects in the MeSA-baited hop yard was associated with a dramatic reduction in spider mite numbers, the major arthropod pest of hops, in late June, and subeconomic populations were maintained for the rest of the season. The evidence presented here is highly suggestive that the use of controlled-release MeSA in a crop could increase recruitment and residency of populations of certain beneficial insects. This strategy may have the potential to enhance the efficacy and reliability of conservation biological control in crop pest management.

http://dx.doi.org/10.1023/B:JOEC.0000042072.18151.6f

  A smell of real evil the pesticide companies trying to target usefull insects.
  have you read through your writting above you have a very strange juxtaposition of phrases , it took me a long time to get down to what you really meant to say with your when i was in the shower odor masking my butt. I must have jumped the punctuation and to make confusion more likely you missed out the t in thought, writting though.
  the companies should be really dragged over the rails fo rtrying to target usefull insects as well as harmfull ones, are they crazy, do they have no love for diversity even if they don't have the good sense to leave bennies as a second possiblility for humans should pesticide companies go down. rose

Ha!

...oops.

I'll go edit that a little. I was tired.

cool post.. What about interplanting near a trail and crushing some leaves between your hands as you pass by?!

Also from Wikipedia:
Plants producing it in significant amounts (readily detected by scent) include:
    * Most species of the family Pyrolaceae, particularly those in the genus Pyrola.  TOO WEENIE
    * Some species of the genus Gaultheria in the family Ericaceae.  ONES WITH THE COMPOUND ARE ALSO WEENIE
    * Some species of the genus Betula in the family Betulaceae, particularly those in the subgenus Betulenta.  THATS EASY... COPPICE WELL TO KEEP YOUNG TWIGS IN REACH.. ALSO GOOD FOR FUEL?
    * All species of the family Spiraea, also called the Meadowsweets.  REALLY EASY TO GROW SHURBS -- ALSO MEDICINAL

And here is the subgenus of Betulenta
Bark on twigs rich in methyl salicylate (oil of wintergreen). Female catkins erect.
          o Betula lenta - Sweet Birch or Cherry Birch
                + Betula lenta subsp. uber - Cherry Creek Birch
          o Betula allegheniensis - Yellow Birch (B. lutea)
          o Betula austrosinensis - South China Birch
          o Betula globispica -
          o Betula insignis -
          o Betula medwediewii - Caucasian Birch
          o Betula megrelica -
          o Betula corylifolia - Hazel-leaf Birch
          o Betula grossa - Japanese Cherry Birch
          o Betula insignis -

And the GENUS Spirea...
The entire plant contains methyl salicylate and other salicylates, compounds with similar medicinal properties of aspirin. Unlike other salicylate-bearing plants such as willow or poplar, meadowsweet's content of these analgesic compounds remain consistent from plant to plant.  Tons of species...

In PNW Spirea douglasii grows like a weed on moist sites, and can grow just about anywhere...

seems that some of us tin foil hatters aren't quite so far off from the truth! I think I still have some wintergreen es. it didn't hold up well in soap but now I might have a far superior use for it! thanks for posting!

No, the recruitment doesn't happen for miles around. Everything that gets sprayed down with OP's (which do smell awful and do need odor masking agents) is going to die, so maybe there is a chance that a few species of wasp will fly in after they spray, if they don't eat anything they wont get poisoned by the OP's and will eventually fly off after they fail to find prey. Additionally these wasps aren't going to be driven by just any crop, only a select group of plants use this system.

The drift from the spray is likely to do several orders of magnitude more damage than any accidental attraction, why spend lots of money adding a chemical to kill the competition if it's only going to increase your effectiveness 00.01%? Put the tinfoil hat away.

after reading this
http://www.charityfocus.org/docs/onestraw.pdf
link last night..well my ideas are getting even more obstinate..

even though I don't understand a lot of the big words...i do know I'm learning