Host Plant Species of Bemisia tabaci Affect Orientational Behavior of the Ladybeetle Serangium japonicum and Their Implication for the Biological Control Strategy of Whiteflies

Insects

Yongyu Xu¹  Mi Tian²  Jun Jiang²  Tongxian Liu²  Shize Zhang²  Lili Xu² 

[1] College of Plant Protection, Shandong Agricultural University, Taian 271018, China;State Key Laboratory of Crop Stress Biology for Arid Areas, Northwest A&F University, Yangling 712100, China;

关键词: Serangium japonicum;    Bemisia tabaci;    orientational behavior;    host plant species;    plant volatiles;    biological control;   

DOI  :  10.3390/insects11070434

来源: DOAJ

【 摘 要 】

Serangium japonicum Chapin (Coleoptera: Coccinellidae) is a predominant predator with a preference for Bemisia tabaci (Gennadius) (Hemiptera: Aleyrodidae). To date, the orientational behavior of S. japonicum toward B. tabaci-infested plants has seldom been reported. In this study, greenhouse cage experiments and bioassays with wind tunnels, a Y-tube olfactometer and B. tabaci-induced plant volatiles were executed to clarify this behavior. In greenhouse cage experiments, B. tabaci adults significantly preferred eggplant, cucumber and tobacco to cotton and tomato, whereas S. japonicum adults preferred B. tabaci-infested eggplant, cucumber and cotton to tobacco and tomato. In wind tunnel bioassays, B. tabaci showed a clear preference for eggplant, cucumber and tobacco. Compared with B. tabaci-infested eggplant, cucumber or cotton, B. tabaci-infested tobacco was rarely visited by S. japonicum. In Y-tube bioassays, S. japonicum did not distinguish between B. tabaci-infested and uninfested eggplant. Nine common plant volatiles were detected in different plant species, suggesting that these volatiles may play an important role in the process by which S. japonicum looks for prey. In light of the current results, we discuss the implications of our findings and put forward to a new strategy—i.e., an eggplant + B. tabaci + S. japonicum system—to control B. tabaci damage in the integrated management of whitefly.

【 授权许可】

Unknown