Abstract
ABSTRACT Counts of salivary sheaths and salivary flanges have been widely used in studies of feeding behavior and crop damage of pestiferous stink bugs (Hemiptera: Pentatomidae) and other sheath-feeding Hemiptera. While salivary flanges can effectively predict crop damage by stink bugs, previous studies have assumed that food consumption (e.g., ingestion) and preference can also be inferred from flange data. Yet this assumption has remained untested. We investigated the relationship between the number of stink bug salivary flanges and consumption of cotton bolls for two important agricultural pest species: Nezara viridula (L.) and Euschistus servus (Say). We inferred food consumption rates from measures of relative growth rate and excreta quantity. To measure excreta, we quantified the color intensity, or chromaticity, of excreta using digital image analysis. We found a positive relationship between growth rate and the number of flanges for fifth instars of E. servus. However, we found no relationship bet...
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