BACKGROUND: Silicon (Si) fertilization has been well‐documented to enhance plant resistance against insect pests by increasing the abrasiveness and toughness of leaf tissues. Additionally, Si also interacts with the jasmonic acid pathway, which modulates antiherbivore induced defenses, including the emission of herbivore‐induced plant volatiles (HIPVs) that attract natural enemies. In this study, we examined the influence of Si fertilization on the attractiveness of nocturnal HIPVs from maize plants infested with the fall armyworm (FAW), Spodoptera frugiperda (JE Smith), to the predatory earwig Doru luteipes (Scudder). RESULTS: In laboratory assays, we found that Si fertilization did not alter the attractiveness of nocturnal constitutive volatiles to the nocturnal predator D . luteipes . However, upon infestation with FAW larvae, Si‐fertilized plants emitted a volatile blend that was more attractive to D. luteipes . Although the composition of HIPVs emitted by non‐fertilized and Si‐fertilized plants was similar, the terpene neryl acetate was exclusively detected in the HIPV blend from Si‐fertilized plants. Tests with synthetic neryl acetate demonstrated that the terpene alone was attractive to the earwig at the specific concentration found in the HIPV blend emitted by Si‐fertilized plants. CONCLUSION: This study demonstrates that Si fertilization primes indirect defenses by specifically increasing the amount of neryl acetate in the HIPV blend, which is responsible for the enhanced attractiveness to the predatory earwig. Thus, Si can act as a priming agent of indirect plant defenses, potentially increasing the recruitment of the predatory earwig once plants are infested by FAW, thereby contributing to suppress insect pest populations. © 2025 The Author(s). Pest Management Science published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of Society of Chemical Industry.

A diverse orchard with fruit fly hosts may provide information about trophic relationships, including new insights into beneficial insects. We evaluated the composition of the fruit fly complex to provide information on tephritid species, parasitoids and multitrophic interactions for the southern region of Minas Gerais, Brazil. Sampling was carried out using traps and by collecting fruits from plants and/or the ground according to availability/the fruiting period. Occurrences of Anastrepha amita Zucchi and A. punctata Hendel were recorded for the first time in the state of Minas Gerais, and new trophic associations were obtained for A. bahiensis Lima, A. bistrigata Bezzi, A. fraterculus (Wiedemann), A. obliqua (Macquart) and Ceratitis capitata (Wiedemann). Ten tephritid species were obtained from trap sampling, with C. capitata, A. fraterculus and A. obliqua being the most abundant. Five species of fruit flies and seven species of parasitoids were obtained from fruits. The braconid Doryctobracon areolatus (Szépligeti) was the most frequently collected among the parasitoid species. Pitanga (Eugenia uniflora L.) and purple guava (Psidium myrtoides O. Berg) fruits were classified as repositories of fruit fly parasitoids.