scholarly journals Vibrational communication and mating behavior of the greenhouse whitefly Trialeurodes vaporariorum (Westwood) (Hemiptera: Aleyrodidae)

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Valeria Fattoruso ◽  
Gianfranco Anfora ◽  
Valerio Mazzoni

AbstractThe greenhouse whitefly (GW), Trialeurodes vaporariorum is considered one of the most harmful insect pests in greenhouses worldwide. The GW mating behavior has been partially investigated and its vibrational communication is only in part known. A deeper knowledge of its intraspecific communication is required to evaluate the applicability of control methods based on techniques of behavioral manipulation. In this study, for the first time, we provided a detailed ethogram of the GW mating behavior and we characterized the vibrational signals emitted during the process of pair formation. We characterized two types of male vibrational emissions (“chirp” and “pulses”), differently arranged according to the behavioral stage to form stage-specific signals, and a previously undescribed Male Rivalry Signal. We recorded and characterized two new female signals: The Female Responding Signal and the Female Rejective Signal. The mating behavior of GW can be divided into six different stages that we named “call”, “alternated duet”, “courtship”, “overlapped duet”, “mating”, “failed mating attempt”. The analysis performed with the Markovian behavioral transition matrix showed that the “courtship” is the key stage in which male exhibits its quality and can lead to the “overlapped duet” stage. The latter is strictly associated to the female acceptance and therefore it plays a crucial role to achieve mating success. Based on our findings, we consider the use of vibrational playbacks interfering with GW mating communication a promising option for pest control in greenhouses. We discuss the possibility to start a research program of behavioral manipulation to control the populations of GW.

Author(s):  
Surendra K. Dara ◽  
David Peck ◽  
Dave Murray

The twospotted spider mite, Tetranychus urticae and the western tarnished plant bug, Lygus hesperus are major arthropod pests of strawberries in California.  Other important insect pests include the greenhouse whitefly, Trialeurodes vaporariorum and the western flower thrips, Frankliella occidentalis.  Chemical pesticides play a major role in managing these pests, but not without the associated risk of pesticide resistance and environmental safety.  Two field studies were conducted in Santa Maria to evaluate the potential of botanical and microbial pesticides in the integrated pest management (IPM) of strawberry.  Chemical, botanical, and microbial pesticides were evaluated against T. urticae in a small plot study in 2013 and against L. hesperus and other insect pests in a large plot study in 2015 in commercial strawberry fields.  Bug vacuums were also used in the 2015 study.  Results demonstrated that non-chemical alternatives can play an important role in strawberry IPM.


2016 ◽  
Vol 56 (2) ◽  
pp. 199-202 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andi Nasruddin ◽  
Laurence A. Mound

AbstractGreenhouse whitefly, Trialeurodes vaporariorum Westwood was reported for the first time in the South Sulawesi Province of Indonesia, and is causing significant damage to field grown potato crops. In an insecticide trial, the tuber yield in infested, untreated plants was reduced by 39%, and the plants had an average number of 68 adult whiteflies per leaflet.


HortScience ◽  
1999 ◽  
Vol 34 (3) ◽  
pp. 442E-442
Author(s):  
Robert P. Rice ◽  
Shelly Baird ◽  
Linzy Gatlin

Greenhouse Whitefly (Trialeurodes vaporariorum) and Silverleaf Whitefly (Bemisia argentifolii) are the most serious insect pests of poinsettia. Most growers rely on the use of foliar insecticide applications before bract coloring and an application of a single soil application of imidicloprid (Marathon) subsequently. This research was undertaken to investigate the use of reflective mulches or bench covers, which have been shown to be effective in outdoor applications for control of whitefly in the greenhouse. In an early trial, silver painted pot spacers and silver polyethylene mulch were placed between pots and both nymphs on leaves and adults caught on yellow sticky cards were monitored. Nymph populations were reduced by ≈35% and adults caught on sticky cards increased by ≈40% when compared with the control. In a subsequent trial, reflective bench covers were combined with the use of yellow sticky tape placed above the canopy of the crop and compared with sticky tape alone, reflective mulch alone, and no treatment. The combination of sticky tape and reflective mulch significantly reduced whitefly populations after 6 weeks and performed better than either of the other treatments alone.


HortScience ◽  
2004 ◽  
Vol 39 (4) ◽  
pp. 871D-872
Author(s):  
Chang-chi Chu* ◽  
Kai Umeda ◽  
Tian-Ye Chen ◽  
Alvin M. Simmons ◽  
Thomas H. Henneberry

Insect traps are vital component of many entomological programs for detection and monitoring of insect populations. We equipped yellow (YC), blue (BC) sticky card (BC) with 530 nm lime green (LED-YC) and 470 nm blue (LED-BC) light-emitting diodes, respectively that increased trap catches of several insect pests. The LED-YC traps caught 1.3, 1.4, 1.8, and 4.8 times more adult greenhouse whitefly Trialeurodes vaporariorum (Westwood), sweetpotato whitefly Bemisia tabaci (Gennadius) biotype B, cotton aphids Gossypium hirsutum (L.), and fungus gnats Bradysia coprophila (Lintner), respectively, compared with standard YC traps. The LED-YC traps did not catch more Eretmocerus spp. than the standard YC traps. Eretmocerus spp. are important B. tabaci parasitoids used in greenhouse biological control programs. For whitefly control in greenhouse the 530 nm lime green LED equipped plastic cup trap designed by Chu et al. (2003) is the better choice than LED-YC trap because it catches few Eretmocerus spp. and Encarsia spp. whitefly parasitoids released for B. tabaci nymph control. The LED-BC traps caught 2.0-2.5 times more adult western flower thrips Franklinella occidentalis (Pergande) compared with the standard BC traps.


2020 ◽  
Vol 13 (2) ◽  
pp. 169-177
Author(s):  
Fay A. Guarraci ◽  
Chantal M.F. Gonzalez ◽  
Devon Lucero ◽  
Lourdes K. Davis ◽  
Sarah H. Meerts

Background: Aging is associated neuroendocrine changes in women. Animals can be used to model these changes, as well as changes in reproductive behavior. Objective: The current study was designed to characterize mating behavior across age and assess the effects of age and sexual history on mating behavior. Methods: Sexual motivation was assessed using the partner-preference test, in which a female rat is given the choice to interact with a same-sex conspecific or a sexually-vigorous male rat, with which she can mate. Results: Across repeated mating tests (2-12 months of age), female rats spent more time with the male, displayed more solicitation behaviors, were less likely to leave the male after mounts, but visited both stimulus animals less frequently. Comparing a separate group of age-matched, hormoneyoked female rats mated for the first time at 12 months of age to female rats mated for the first time at 2 months of age showed that the 12 month rats visited both stimulus animals less, were less likely to leave the male after mounts, took longer to return to the male after mounts, and displayed fewer solicitation behaviors than their younger counterparts. Relative to middle-aged female rats once they were sexually experienced, 12 month naïve rats spent less time with the male, were more likely to leave the male after mounts, and displayed fewer solicitation behaviors. Furthermore, 12 month naïve rats failed to discriminate between the stimulus animals, visiting both stimulus animals at the same rate unlike 2 month naïve or 12 month experienced rats. Conclusion: Taken together, these results suggest that aging affects some measures of sexual behavior, but most effects of age can be mitigated by regular, repeated mating.


2017 ◽  
Vol 86 (3) ◽  
pp. 229-237 ◽  
Author(s):  
Xin Tong ◽  
Lu Jiang ◽  
Bao-Zhen Hua

Sexually reproductive insects exhibit diverse mating behaviors. However, the mating pattern remains unknown for Panorpodes of Panorpodidae to date. In this study, we investigated the mating behavior and copulatory mechanism of the short-faced scorpionfly Panorpodes kuandianensis Zhong, Zhang and Hua, 2011 for the first time. The results show that the male provides a salivary mass as a nuptial gift to the female and starts to copulate with the female in a V-shaped position, then changes to an end-to-end position by temporarily twisting the female abdominal segments VII−IX by 180°. During mating the basal processes and the basal teeth of the gonostyli and the hypandrium are used to obtain copulation and sustain the coupling of genitalia to secure successful sperm transfer. This unique mating pattern is greatly different from that of other Mecoptera reported and is likely evolved as an adaptation in the context of sexual conflict.


Euphytica ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 217 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Joris Santegoets ◽  
Marcella Bovio ◽  
Wendy van’t Westende ◽  
Roeland E. Voorrips ◽  
Ben Vosman

AbstractThe greenhouse whitefly Trialeurodes vaporariorum is a major threat in tomato cultivation. In greenhouse grown tomatoes non-trichome based whitefly resistance may be better suited than glandular trichome based resistance as glandular trichomes may interfere with biocontrol, which is widely used. Analysis of a collection of recombinant inbred lines derived from a cross between Solanum lycopersicum and Solanum galapagense showed resistance to the whitefly T. vaporariorum on plants without glandular trichomes type IV. The resistance affected whitefly adult survival (AS), but not oviposition rate. This indicates that S. galapagense, in addition to trichome based resistance, also carries non-trichome based resistance components. The effectiveness of the non-trichome based resistance appeared to depend on the season in which the plants were grown. The resistance also had a small but significant effect on the whitefly Bemisia tabaci, but not on the thrips Frankliniella occidentalis. A segregating F2 population was created to map the non-trichome based resistance. Two Quantitative trait loci (QTLs) for reduced AS of T. vaporariorum were mapped on chromosomes 12 and 7 (explaining 13.9% and 6.0% of the variance respectively). The QTL on chromosome 12 was validated in F3 lines.


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