The spotted lanternfly,
(White) (Hemiptera: Fulgoridae), is an invasive species of planthopper that was introduced to North America and is a threat to multiple industries. Nymphs and egg masses were ...collected to assess each instar's rate of development at a constant temperature of 25°C on the following hosts:
(Miller) (Sapindales: Simaroubaceae),
(L.) (Vitales: Vitaceae),
(L.) (Malpighiales: Salicaceae),
(L.) (Sapindales: Sapindaceae),
(Thunberg) (Celastrales: Celastraceae),
(L.) (Lamiales: Lamiaceae), and
(Thunberg) (Rosales: Rosaceae). Host plant species was found to have a significant effect on developmental time for nymphs in the first through third instars, as well as on nymphal survival. Nymphs failed to develop through the second instar on
and the third and fourth instars on
. Host plant species also had a significant effect on the mean weight of nymphs in the first, second, and fourth instars (but not in the third instar), and on the hind tibia length and forewing width of adult nymphs. This variability in
developmental time by host plant species can potentially impact phenology models, which should be updated to reflect these new insights. Rearing practices should also be refined to account for host plant influences on the physiology of
.
Trap cropping may exploit a pest's dispersal and host selection behavior in order to protect a desired crop. Here, we used a combination of visual sampling, immunomarking, and harmonic radar to ...assess host plant selection and retention time of the highly mobile and invasive Halyomorpha halys (Stål) (Hemiptera: Pentatomidae), as it moves within and between a polyculture trap crop of sorghum and sunflower, and a bell pepper cash crop. Visual sampling demonstrated no significant differences in H. halys densities across crops, whereas dislodging stink bugs to collect for protein analysis revealed ca. 4× more bugs in the trap crop plants than in the peppers. In total 145 H. halys were collected and of these 6% were doubly marked with proteins, demonstrating that minimal movement occurred between the two planting systems. Tracking tagged H. halys with harmonic radar revealed that the trap crop retained adult H. halys within the plots 1.5× longer and reduced their movement by nearly half compared with bugs released in the pepper cash crop. The data suggest the trap crop of sunflower plus sorghum has the potential to attract and arrest the invasive H. halys, demonstrating that trap cropping may operate as an effective management tool.
Halyomorpha halys (Stål) (Hemiptera: Pentatomidae), the brown marmorated stink bug, an invasive agricultural pest in America and Europe, is reaching a global distribution. In the US, the first ...detection of H. halys was in the mid–1990s, and it has become a serious pest in multiple crop systems. In 2014, an exotic egg parasitoid, Trissolcus japonicus (Ashmead) (Hymenoptera: Scelionidae), was documented parasitizing sentinel H. halys egg masses in a wooded habitat in Beltsville, Maryland, USA. The parasitoid has since been reported in several other locations in the eastern and western US, and its population appears to be expanding in geographic range. However, there have been no reports of T. japonicus parasitizing H. halys egg masses within cultivated crops in the US. Whereas attack of H. halys in non-agricultural habitat may provide important biological control services in the landscape, if T. japonicus is not able to successfully forage for H. halys eggs within crops, its impact as a biological control agent may be limited. Here we report on successful parasitism of egg masses deployed in 2 peach orchards in New Jersey, USA. Egg masses were deployed as part of an experiment investigating the efficacy of an integrated pest management (IPM) strategy utilizing border insecticide sprays in apple and peach. While overall egg parasitism was low, the majority of successfully developing parasitoids (97.4% of total adult parasitoids emerging, and from 75% of successfully parasitized sentinel egg masses) were T. japonicus.
Monitoring insect populations is a fundamental component of integrated pest management programs. In many cropping systems, monitoring is accomplished through captures in baited traps. The aggregation ...pheromone and pheromone synergist for the invasive Halyomorpha halys (Hemiptera: Pentatomidae) are known. We compared the response of H. halys to commercial lures in peach and apple orchards. Two commercial pheromone formulations, PHEROCON Trécé BMSB (‘Trécé’) and AgBio Inc. Stink Bug Xtra Combo (‘Xtra Combo’), were compared with unbaited traps in peach orchards in 2015 and 2016 and in an apple orchard in 2016. In both crops and years, more H. halys responded to the Trécé lure, and fruit from trees near baited traps had correspondingly higher injury. In both years, peach fruit near Trécé baited traps had significantly higher feeding injury (52.2 ± 5.0%) than fruit near Xtra Combo baited and unbaited traps (35.2 ± 4.5% and 22.2 ± 3.4%, respectively). Injury to apple fruit near baited traps in 2016 was significantly different from fruit near unbaited traps (Trécé: 93.0 ± 3.8%, Xtra Combo: 74.1 ± 5.1%, and unbaited: 19.0 ± 2.7%). A field response index, which quantifies attraction of H. halys to each lure, demonstrated an equal response to both lures in 2015 peach and a higher response to Trécé lure in 2016 in both crops, which suggests the lure is pulling bugs from a larger area. We conclude that formulation differences, population pressure, and host plant species influence H. halys populations' response and resulting injury, and should be considered for trap-based decision management.
Abstract
Protein immunomarking can be used to track the dispersal of insects in the field or identify plant–insect interactions. By marking insects with known proteins and recapturing them, their ...movement or host use can be quantified with Enzyme Linked Immunosorbent Assay (ELISA). Before using this technique, retention and behavioral effects of these markers should be evaluated to ensure that the insect’s natural behaviors are conserved. Here, we tested the effects of protein markers on the plum curculio, Conotrachelus nenuphar (Coleoptera: Curculionidae) using two different application methods. This weevil is native to North American and a pest of tree fruit and blueberry in the United States and causes damage resulting in near complete crop loss if left untreated. We tested the effects of marking adult C. nenuphar with two inexpensive food-based immunoprotein markers, bovine casein (cow’s milk) and chicken albumin (egg whites) on climbing distance (total cm), lateral movement (total cm), and lateral movement speed (cm/s), as well as retention time of protein immunomarkers. Neither protein immunomarker affected C. nenuphar movement or climbing, although females climbed significantly greater distances than males. ELISA assays detected 37.5–56.2% of milk protein and 56.2–59.3% of egg on the insect 7 d after application depending on application method. Our findings indicate that food-based protein immunomarkers can be used in future studies to test C. nenuphar movement within host plants without impacting behavior. The use of protein immunomarking will allow studies that will lead to behaviorally based management tactics.
Sugarcane (Saccharum spp. hybrids) accumulates high concentrations of sucrose in its mature stalk and a considerable portion of carbohydrate metabolism is also devoted to cell wall synthesis and ...fibre production. We examined tissue-specific expression patterns to explore the spatial deployment of pathways responsible for sucrose accumulation and fibre synthesis within the stalk. We performed expression profiling of storage parenchyma, vascular bundles and rind dissected from a maturing stalk internode of sugarcane, identifying ten cellulose synthase subunit genes and examining significant differences in the expression of their corresponding transcripts and those of several sugar transporters. These were correlated with differential expression patterns for transcripts of genes encoding COBRA-like proteins and other cell wall metabolism-related proteins. The sugar transporters genes ShPST2a, ShPST2b and ShSUT4 were significantly up-regulated in storage parenchyma while ShSUT1 was up-regulated in vascular bundles. Two co-ordinately expressed groups of cell wall related transcripts were also identified. One group, associated with primary cell wall synthesis (ShCesA1, ShCesA7, ShCesA9 and Shbk2l3), was up-regulated in parenchyma. The other group, associated with secondary cell wall synthesis (ShCesA10, ShCesA11, ShCesA12 and Shbk-2), was up-regulated in rind. In transformed sugarcane plants, the ShCesA7 promoter conferred stable expression of green fluorescent protein preferentially in the storage parenchyma of the maturing stalk internode. Our results indicate that there is spatial separation for elevated expression of these important targets in both sucrose accumulation and cell wall synthesis, allowing for increased clarity in our understanding of sucrose transport and fibre synthesis in sugarcane.
The introduction of an invasive species into an agroecosystem can alter both the interspecies dynamics and existing management practices. In the area of introduction, seasonality of Halyomorpha halys ...(Stål) in soybean fields was investigated by comparing monitoring efficiency of sweep net sampling and two sizes of pyramid traps baited with aggregation compound methyl (E,E,Z) 2,4,6-decatrienoate in 2006–2007. The large pyramid trap caught significantly higher densities of H. halys than the small pyramid trap and the sweep net samples each year. Adult males and females were detected in significantly higher densities in the large pyramid trap than other life stages. The pyramid traps caught H. halys adults and nymphs earlier than sweep net samples, during the R3 and R4 phenological stages of soybean growth. Peak abundances in the pyramid traps occurred during the R5–R6 stages, while the sweep samples were highest during the R6 stage. Soybean is sensitive to stink bug feeding damage from the R3–R6 stages. The occurrence of H. halys in soybean coincides with soybean's critical growth stage. H. halys has become the dominant stink bug species in the crop, indicating that damage thresholds need to be determined.
Reliable monitoring of the invasive Halyomorpha halys abundance, phenology and geographic distribution is critical for its management. Halyomorpha halys adult and nymphal captures on clear sticky ...traps and in black pyramid traps were compared in 18 states across the Great Lakes, Mid-Atlantic, Southeast, Pacific Northwest and Western regions of the United States. Traps were baited with commercial lures containing the H. halys pheromone and synergist, and deployed at field sites bordering agricultural or urban locations with H. halys host plants. Nymphal and adult captures in pyramid traps were greater than those on sticky traps, but captures were positively correlated between the two trap types within each region and during the early-, mid- and late season across all sites. Sites were further classified as having a low, moderate or high relative H. halys density and again showed positive correlations between captures for the two trap types for nymphs and adults. Among regions, the greatest adult captures were recorded in the Southeast and Mid-Atlantic on pyramid and sticky traps, respectively, with lowest captures recorded in the West. Nymphal captures, while lower than adult captures, were greatest in the Southeast and lowest in the West. Nymphal and adult captures were, generally, greatest during July–August and September–October, respectively. Trapping data were compared with available phenological models showing comparable population peaks at most locations. Results demonstrated that sticky traps offer a simpler alternative to pyramid traps, but both can be reliable tools to monitor H. halys in different geographical locations with varying population densities throughout the season.
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