Lujo S, Hartman E, Norton K, Pregmon E A, Rohde B B, Mankin R W
US Department of Agriculture, Agriculture Research Service, Center for Medical, Agricultural, and Veterinary Entomology, Gainesville, FL, 32608 (
Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of Florida, 32611, (
J Econ Entomol. 2016 Dec 1;109(6):2373-2379. doi: 10.1093/jee/tow202.
Severe economic damage from citrus greening disease, caused by 'Candidatus Liberibacter asiaticus' bacteria, has stimulated development of methods to reduce mating and reproduction in populations of its insect vector, Diaphorina citri (Hemiptera: Liviidae). Male D. citri find mating partners by walking on host plants, intermittently producing vibrational calls that stimulate duetting replies by receptive females. The replies provide orientational feedback, assisting the search process. To test a hypothesis that D. citri mating can be disrupted using vibrational signals that compete with and/or mask female replies, courtship bioassays were conducted in citrus trees with or without interference from female reply mimics produced by a vibrating buzzer. Statistically significant reductions occurred in the rates and proportions of mating when the buzzer produced reply mimics within 0.4 s after male courtship calls compared with undisturbed controls. Observations of courtship behaviors in the two bioassays revealed activity patterns that likely contributed to the reductions. In both disruption and control tests, males reciprocated frequently between structural bifurcations and other transition points where signal amplitudes changed. Males in the disruption bioassay had to select among vibrational signals combined from the buzzer and the female at each transition point. They often turned towards the buzzer instead of the female. There was a statistically significant reduction in the proportion of males mating if they contacted the buzzer, possibly due to its higher vibration amplitude and duration in comparison with female replies. Potential applications of D. citri mating disruption technology in citrus groves are discussed.
由“亚洲韧皮杆菌”引起的柑橘黄龙病造成了严重的经济损失，这促使人们开发减少其昆虫传播媒介——柑橘木虱（半翅目：木虱科）种群交配和繁殖的方法。雄性柑橘木虱通过在寄主植物上行走来寻找交配对象，它们会间歇性地发出振动信号，以激发接受信号的雌虫发出二重奏回应。这些回应提供了定向反馈，辅助搜索过程。为了验证一个假设，即可以使用与雌虫回应相竞争和/或掩盖雌虫回应的振动信号来干扰柑橘木虱的交配，研究人员在柑橘树上进行了求偶生物测定，测定过程中有或没有由振动蜂鸣器产生的雌虫回应模拟信号的干扰。与未受干扰的对照组相比，当蜂鸣器在雄虫求偶鸣叫后0.4秒内产生回应模拟信号时，交配率和交配比例出现了统计学上的显著下降。对两种生物测定中求偶行为的观察揭示了可能导致交配率下降的活动模式。在干扰试验和对照试验中，雄虫经常在结构分叉点和其他信号幅度发生变化的过渡点之间往复移动。在干扰生物测定中的雄虫必须在每个过渡点从蜂鸣器和雌虫组合产生的振动信号中进行选择。它们常常转向蜂鸣器而非雌虫。如果雄虫接触到蜂鸣器，其交配比例会出现统计学上的显著下降，这可能是因为与雌虫回应相比，蜂鸣器的振动幅度和持续时间更高。本文还讨论了柑橘木虱交配干扰技术在柑橘果园中的潜在应用。
