68 research outputs found
Etude de la rémanence de l'azinphos-méthyl utilisé contre Epiphyas postvittana Walker (Lepid. : Tortricidae) en Nouvelle-Zélande
No full textCan vibrational playbacks disrupt mating or influence other relevant behaviours in Bactericera cockerelli (Triozidae: Hemiptera)?
No full textBehaviours of insects can be manipulated by transmitting vibrational signals to host plants in order to develop pest management techniques. Bactericera cockerelli is an important pest and uses vibrations for mate-finding. In order to design a future control strategy for B. cockerelli, three different bioassays were performed to assess whether vibrational signals could affect relevant behaviours. Single males or pairs were treated with a female playback in test 1 and 2, respectively. In test 3, mixed sex groups received either different disturbance playbacks. The use of a female playback significantly reduced the mating success of males, since they were attracted towards the source of the stimulus. Moreover, test 2 revealed that B. cockerelli females are competitive, since they used their signals to cover the playback and to duet with males, while in test 3, the disturbance playback, consisting of broadband noises significantly reduced male signalling activity. However, none of the treatments of test 3 negatively affected the mating success of males, which tended to mount the other conspecifics present on the same leaf. The role of vibrations in sexual communication and their potential application as control technique for B. cockerelli are discussed as well
Etude de la rémanence de l'azinphos-méthyl utilisé contre Epiphyas postvittana Walker (Lepid. : Tortricidae) en Nouvelle-Zélande
No full textInternational audienc
Can we replace toxicants, achieve biosecurity, and generate market position with semiochemicals?
No full textBiosecurity covers both long-term management of existing pests and the urgent government responses to alien invasive species which have yet to become fully established. Mating disruption, mass trapping and lure and kill systems all have potential to be used in pest management and against new incursions of certain types of organisms, predominantly moths and beetles. Straight chained lepidopteran sex pheromones have emerged as a source of potential market advantage in pest management, with trapping systems and residue-free multiple species disruption systems being increasingly adopted to reduce insecticide use and meet private stabndard. Semiochemicals can also offer new surveillance tools in pre-border biosecurity, greatly improving the chances for successful eradication of alien invasive species. However, a rising frequency of incursions of alien invasive species and consequent rise in official eradication programs due to globalisation points strongly to the need for further investment in the areas of discovery and development of surveillance and eradication technologies, from a sound knowledge of chemical ecology
Vibrational communication in Psyllids
No full textPsyllids are small insects that can vector causal agents of serious plant
diseases, such as greening in citrus and zebra chip disease in potatoes. Several
invasive psyllid species are expanding their geographic range, but there are few
pest management tactics available at present. Vibrational communication is a primary intra-specific communication channel within Psylloidea, being widespread
among almost all the families. In psyllids, vibrational signals are used for mate
location and mate choice by means of a male–female duet. Depending on the
species, the first call can be emitted either by the male or the female and if a potential
mate replies, the duet is eventually established. Some psyllid males produce a
specific response signal when a female replies to their call, while in most other
species the male uses a unique type of vibrational signal throughout the mating process. Most psyllids likely emit vibrations by means of stridulation, in which
signals can be produced when the sclerotised areas of the anal vein of the wings rub
against the scutellum, which bears scale-like denticles. Recent evidence suggests
that novel methods of trapping or mating disruption using vibrational communication could provide solutions for monitoring and control psyllid pests. For instance,
the vibrational signals of the Asian citrus psyllid, Diaphorina citri, and the North
American tomato potato psyllid, Bactericera cockerelli, have been tested as monitoring and trapping tools, and similar studies have been initiated on other species
Live traps for adult brown marmorated stink bugs
No full textSurveillance for detection of the brown marmorated stink bug, Halyomorpha halys, is reliant
on sticky panels with aggregation pheromone, which are low cost, but very inefficient (est. 3%).
Trapping for adults was conducted in Italy with novel live (or lethal) traps consisting of aggregation
pheromone-baited cylinders with a wind vane, with the upwind end covered by mesh and the
downwind end sealed by a removable entry-only mesh cone, admitting the attracted bugs. The novel
traps caught up to 15-times more adult H. halys than identically-baited sticky panels in two weeks
of daily checking (n = 6 replicates) (the new live traps were, in Run 1, 5-, 9-, 15-, 13-, 4-, 12-, 2-fold;
and in Run 2, 7-, 1-, 3-, 7-, 6-, 6-, and 5-fold better than sticky traps, daily). The maximum catch
of the new traps was 96 live adults in one trap in 24 h and the average improvement was ~7-fold
compared with sticky panels. The rotating live traps, which exploit a mesh funnel facing the plume
downwind that proved useful for collecting adults, could also be used to kill bugs. We expect that
commercially-available traps could replace the crude prototypes we constructed quickly from local
materials, at low cost, as long as the principles of a suitable plume structure were observed, as we
discuss. The traps could be useful for the sterile insect technique, supporting rearing colonies, or to
kill bug
What magnitude are observed non-target impacts from weed biocontrol?
No full textA systematic review focused by plant on non-target impacts from agents deliberately introduced for the biological control of weeds found significant non-target impacts to be rare. The magnitude of direct impact of 43 biocontrol agents on 140 non-target plants was retrospectively categorized using a risk management framework for ecological impacts of invasive species (minimal, minor, moderate, major, massive). The vast majority of agents introduced for classical biological control of weeds (>99% of 512 agents released) have had no known significant adverse effects on non-target plants thus far; major effects suppressing non-target plant populations could be expected to be detectable. Most direct non-target impacts on plants (91.6%) were categorized as minimal or minor in magnitude with no known adverse long-term impact on non-target plant populations, but a few cacti and thistles are affected at moderate (n = 3), major (n = 7) to massive (n = 1) scale. The largest direct impacts are from two agents (Cactoblastis cactorum on native cacti and Rhinocyllus conicus on native thistles), but these introductions would not be permitted today as more balanced attitudes exist to plant biodiversity, driven by both society and the scientific community. Our analysis shows (as far as is known), weed biological control agents have a biosafety track record of >99% of cases avoiding significant non-target impacts on plant populations. Some impacts could have been overlooked, but this seems unlikely to change the basic distribution of very limited adverse effects. Fewer non-target impacts can be expected in future because of improved science and incorporation of wider values. Failure to use biological control represents a significant opportunity cost from the certainty of ongoing adverse impacts from invasive weeds. It is recommended that a simple five-step scale be used to better communicate the risk of consequences from both action (classical biological control) and no action (ongoing impacts from invasive weeds)
Combining Irradiation and Biological Control against Brown Marmorated Stink Bug: Are Sterile Eggs a Suitable Substrate for the Egg Parasitoid Trissolcus japonicus?
No full textThe brown marmorated stink bug (BMSB), Halyomorpha halys, is a phytophagous invasive pest native to south-eastern Asia, and it is now distributed worldwide. This species is considered to be one of the most damaging insect pests in North America and in Europe. In agriculture, the predominant approach to managing BMSB is based on the use of insecticides, specifically pyrethroids and neonicotinoids. Unfortunately, the biology of the species and its facility to develop mechanisms of resistance to available pesticides has induced farmers and scientists to develop different, least-toxic, and more effective strategies of control. In a territorial area-wide approach, the use of a classical biological control program in combination with other least-toxic strategies has been given prominent consideration. Following exploratory surveys in the native range, attention has focused on Trissolcus japonicus, a small scelionid egg parasitoid wasp that is able to oviposit and complete its larval development in a single egg of H. halys. A common method for detecting egg parasitoids in the native range involves the placement of so-called 'sentinel' egg masses of the pest in the environment for a short period, which are then returned to the laboratory to determine if any of them are parasitized. Outside of the area of origin, the use of fertile sentinel eggs of the alien species may lead to the further release of the pest species; an alternative is to use sterile sentinel eggs to record the presence of new indigenous egg parasitoids or to detect the dispersal of alien species (in this case, T. japonicus) released in a new environment to control the target insect pest species. This study evaluated the performance of three types of sterile sentinel eggs as a suitable substrate for the oviposition and larval development of the egg parasitoid T. japonicus in a context of combining classical biological control with a Sterile Insect Technique (SIT) approac
Effects of irradiation on biology and mating behaviour of wild males of brown marmorated stink bug using a 6 MV medical linear accelerator
No full textThe brown marmorated stink bug, Halyomorpha halys, is a pentatomid bug of Eastern Asian origin that became an economically relevant pest in the Eurasian and American continents. Management of this species is limited to use of chemical insecticides: an inefficient method due to the strong adaptability of the target pest. The sterile insect technique (SIT) is potentially a valid tactic in the search for nontoxic alternatives. In this work, we investigated the suitability of masstrapped overwintering males, collected during the aggregation phase before the winter diapause, for their release as competitive sterile males in an SIT programme. Differently from previous studies, irradiation was applied with a linear accelerator device that produced high-energy photons. Following a similar scientific protocol with newly emerged irradiated males, the effects of X-ray irradiation on physiological parameters (longevity, fecundity and fertility) were assessed. In addition, behavioural bioassays were carried out in no-choice conditions to evaluate if irradiation interferes with mating processes. The results are very encouraging; the effects of the irradiation at 32 Gy did not differ from the controls in the longevity or fecundity of the exposed overwintering adults. The hatching rate of the eggs laid by the fertile females that had mated with the irradiated males was less than 5%. The results of behavioural bioassays showed that the irradiation did not cause a significant impact on the quality of the sterile males. More research is warranted to evaluate the mating competitiveness of sterile males in semi-field and field condition
Feasibility study on cytological sperm bundle assessment of F1 progeny of irradiated male painted apple moth (Teia anartoides Walker; Lepidoptera: Lymantriidae) for the sterile insect technique
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