Abstract
Behaviours 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.
Highlights
Many insect species rely on vibrational signals to interact with co- and heterospecifics in different behavioural contexts [1,2]
We explored the use of vibrational signals to manipulate the mating behaviour of the tomato potato psyllid Bactericera cockerelli
Our study demonstrated that the mating behaviour of B. cockerelli can be affected by the transmission of a female playback, when a female and a male occur on different leaves
Summary
Many insect species rely on vibrational signals to interact with co- and heterospecifics in different behavioural contexts [1,2]. The mating behaviour of the leafhopper Scaphoideus titanus was successfully disrupted in semi-field conditions by the transmission of the male rivalry signal into grapevine [5], leading to the realization of the first vibrational vineyard in Italy for the control of grapevine leafhoppers since 2017 [6]. Another example of the use of Insects 2020, 11, 299; doi:10.3390/insects11050299 www.mdpi.com/journal/insects. Currently objects of research involve the glassy-winged sharpshooter Homalodisca vitripennis [9,10], and the brown marmorated stinkbug Halyomorpha halys [11,12]
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