Stukenberg Niklas, Pietruska Markus, Waldherr Axel, Meyhöfer Rainer
Institute of Horticultural Production Systems, Section Phytomedicine-Applied Entomology, Leibniz Universität Hannover, 30419 Hannover, Germany.
Institute of Crop Science and Resource Conservation, Agroecology and Organic Farming Group, University of Bonn, 53121 Bonn, Germany.
Insects. 2020 Jul 9;11(7):423. doi: 10.3390/insects11070423.
The western flower thrips () is a serious pest in horticulture, feeding on leaf tissue and floral resources. Blue and yellow sticky traps are commonly used for monitoring and control in greenhouses. The mechanisms underlying the color preferences are largely unknown. The use of light-emitting diodes (LEDs) is a promising approach to increase the attractiveness of visual traps and to study the color choice behavior in insects. The color preferences of were systematically investigated in a series of choice experiments with several LEDs from the ultraviolet (UV) and visible spectral range. Blue LEDs were most attractive, followed by green, while only a moderate attractiveness of UV was observed. Blue and green were identified as two separate attractive ranges. When light from blue and green LEDs was mixed, the attractiveness decreased compared to its single components. In conclusion, exhibits two different wavelength specific behaviors towards blue and green. Compelling indications are provided that these behaviors are controlled by two photoreceptors maximally sensitive in the blue and green range with an inhibitory chromatic interaction between both. Since the known UV sensitive photoreceptor could be confirmed, a trichromatic photoreceptor setup is suggested for . For advanced plant protection strategies, the results offer several opportunities to optimize monitoring or even develop mass trapping devices.
西花蓟马是园艺业中的一种严重害虫，以叶片组织和花卉资源为食。蓝色和黄色粘虫板常用于温室中的监测和防治。颜色偏好背后的机制在很大程度上尚不清楚。使用发光二极管（LED）是一种有前景的方法，可提高视觉诱捕器的吸引力并研究昆虫的颜色选择行为。在一系列选择实验中，使用来自紫外（UV）和可见光谱范围的几种LED，系统地研究了西花蓟马的颜色偏好。蓝色LED最具吸引力，其次是绿色，而紫外光仅表现出中等吸引力。蓝色和绿色被确定为两个独立的吸引范围。当蓝色和绿色LED的光混合时，与单一成分相比，吸引力降低。总之，西花蓟马对蓝色和绿色表现出两种不同的波长特异性行为。有令人信服的迹象表明，这些行为由两个在蓝色和绿色范围内具有最大敏感性且两者之间存在抑制性色相互作用的光感受器控制。由于已知的紫外敏感光感受器可以得到证实，因此建议西花蓟马具有三色光感受器设置。对于先进的植物保护策略，这些结果为优化监测甚至开发大量诱捕装置提供了多种机会。
