Use of Molecular Gut Content Analysis to Decipher the Range of Food Plants of the Invasive Spotted Lanternfly, Lycorma delicatula.

Alina Avanesyan,William O Lamp

doi:10.3390/insects11040215

Abstract

Spotted lanternfly, Lycorma delicatula (Hemiptera: Fulgoridae), is an introduced highly invasive insect pest in the US that poses a significant risk to forestry and agriculture. Assessing and predicting plant usage of the lanternfly has been challenging, and little is known regarding the lanternfly nymph association with its host plants. In this study, we focused on: (a) providing a protocol for using molecular markers for food plant identification of L. delicatula; (b) determining whether the ingested plant DNA corresponds with DNA of the plants from which the lanternfly was collected; and, (c) investigating the spectrum of ingested plants. We utilized gut contents of third and fourth instar nymphs that were collected from multiple plants; we isolated ingested plant DNA and identified consumed plants. We demonstrated that (a) up to 534 bp of the rbcL gene from ingested plants can be detected in L. delicatula guts, (b) ingested plants in ~93% of the nymphs did not correspond with the plants from which the nymphs were collected, and (c) both introduced and native plants, as well as woody and non-woody plants, were ingested. This information will aid effective the monitoring and management of the lanternfly, as well as predict the lanternfly host plants with range expansion.

Highlights

Spotted lanternfly, Lycorma delicatula (White), is emerging as one of the most aggressive invasive auchenorrynchan pests in in the eastern US: it is extremely polyphagous and it can feed on over 70 host plants, such as apple, plum, cherry, peach, apricot, grape, pine, tree of heaven, as well as many ornamental plants [1,2,3,4,5,6]
We demonstrated that (a) up to 534 bp of the rbcL gene from ingested plants can be detected in L. delicatula guts, (b) ingested plants in ~93% of the nymphs did not correspond with the plants from which the nymphs were collected, and (c) both introduced and native plants, as well as woody and non-woody plants, were ingested
In this study we focused on the following objectives to address these issues and develop an effective protocol for plant DNA detection in gut contents of L. delicatula: (a) to provide an optimized step-by-step protocol for using molecular markers for identification of plants ingested by L. delicatula; (b) to determine whether the detected plant DNA in the insect gut contents corresponds with DNA of the plants from which L. delicatula was collected; and, (c) to investigate the spectrum of ingested plant species

Summary

Introduction

Lycorma delicatula (White), is emerging as one of the most aggressive invasive auchenorrynchan pests in in the eastern US: it is extremely polyphagous and it can feed on over 70 host plants, such as apple, plum, cherry, peach, apricot, grape, pine, tree of heaven (preferred tree host), as well as many ornamental plants [1,2,3,4,5,6]. Nymphs and adults cause severe plant damage through the sucking of phloem sap from the vascular bundles of young stems or leaves, as well as producing honeydew and, creating conditions for sooty mold [1,6,7]. As nymphs mature, their host plant range decreases; and. The diet composition of L. delicatula has been traditionally explored by field surveys (i.e., observation of the lanternfly occurrence on host plants) and laboratory feeding assays [8,9]

Methods

Results

Discussion

Conclusion