Substrate-borne vibrations disrupt the mating behaviors of the neotropical brown stink bug, Euschistus heros: implications for pest management

Abstract

Stink bugs are key pests around the world. The principal method for managing these pests is the use of broad-spectrum insecticides. However, disrupting sexual communication could also be a biorational alternative for pest management. In this study, pure tone vibrations, mechanically transmitted to plants, were tested for their potential to disrupt the reproductive behavior of the neotropical brown stink bug, Euschistus heros. This species is one of the main pests in soybean production in Brazil. Three experimental procedures were developed using artificial pure tone vibrations (20–200 Hz), which were played back and mechanically transmitted to plants as background noise. In Test 1, the impact of pure tones on the emission of male and female vibratory signals was analyzed. In Test 2, reproductive behavior was monitored in the presence of background noise, and in Test 3, long-term effects (24 h) of noise on reproductive success were evaluated. Results showed that pure tone vibrations of 75–200 Hz increased the proportion of females that spontaneously emitted signal while inhibiting the signaling and searching of males for females. It reduced copulation of 94.2–100% compared to control pairs. In long-term experiments, background noise delayed and slightly reduced mating frequency by 24.7%. Females exposed to background noise had reduced fecundity and fertility. This study demonstrates the potential of mechanical vibrations as a mating-disrupting tactic for stink bug management.