Apple Leafminer Research Articles

The complete mitochondrial genome of Leucoptera coffeella (Lepidoptera: Lyonetiidae) and phylogenetic relationships within the Yponomeutoidea superfamily

The coffee leaf miner (Leucoptera coffeella) is one of the major pests of coffee crops in the neotropical regions, and causes major economic losses. Few molecular data are available to identify this pest and advances in the knowledge of the genome of L. coffeella will contribute to improving pest identification and also clarify taxonomy of this microlepidoptera. L. coffeella DNA was extracted and sequenced using PacBio HiFi technology. Here we report the complete L. coffeella circular mitochondrial genome (16,407 bp) assembled using Aladin software. We found a total of 37 genes, including 13 protein-coding genes (PCGs), 22 transfer RNA genes (tRNAs), 2 ribosomal RNA genes (rRNAs) and an A + T rich-region and a D-loop. The L. coffeella mitochondrial gene organization is highly conserved with similarities to lepidopteran mitochondrial gene rearrangements (trnM-trnI-trnQ). We concatenated the 13 PCG to construct a phylogenetic tree and inferred the relationship between L. coffeella and other lepidopteran species. L. coffeella is found in the Lyonetiidae clade together with L. malifoliella and Lyonetia clerkella, both leaf miners. Interestingly, this clade is assigned in the Yponomeutoidea superfamily together with Gracillariidae, and both superfamilies displayed species with leaf-mining feeding habits.

Asymmetric synthesis of the sex pheromone of the apple leafminer, Lyonetia prunifoliella.

Lyonetia prunifoliella is a significant pest in orchards and damages apple. The sex pheromones of this pest were prepared via a new and concise method. The central to our method were Evans' chiral auxiliaries, the addition of chiral Grignard reagent to aldehyde and Wittig coupling.

Modernist Life Histories: Biological Theory and the Experimental Bildungsromanby Daniel Aureliano Newman

<i>Modernist Life Histories: Biological Theory and the Experimental Bildungsroman</i>by Daniel Aureliano Newman

SPECIES OF INSECTS HARMFUL TO LEAVES, BUDS, AND FLOWERS IN THE APPLE ORCHARDS OF SOUTHERN ROMANIA

The aim of the study was to update knowledge of the complex of harmful species that damage apple tree buds, flowers and leaves in orchards in the southern part of Romania. The pest fauna identified by visual observation and collection of infested plant material in the 2021 study, performed in 3 orchards, was represented by a total of 4 species of beetles: Phyllobius pomaceus, P. oblongus, Anthonomus pomorum (Coleoptera: Curculionidae) and Tropinota (Epicometis) hirta (Coleoptera:Scarabaeidae) and 12 species of moths: Phyllonorycter blancardella (Lepidoptera: Gracillariidae), Stigmella malella (Lepidoptera:Nepticulidae), Hyphantria cunea (Lepidoptera:Erebidae), Leucoptera malifoliella, Lyonetia clerkella (Lepidoptera: Lyonetiidae), Adoxophyes orana, Archips podanus, A. rosanus, Clepsis consimilana, Pandemis heparana, P. cerasana and Hedia nubiferana (Lepidoptera:Tortricidae). The report reveals the variations among orchards, in terms of species composition, relative abundance of common species and their importance for the region.

Seasonal incidence of apple leaf miner (Lyonetia clerkella (L., 1758), Lepidoptera, Lyonetiidae) in Kashmir, India

The seasonal incidence of apple leaf miner (Lyonetia clerkella [L., 1758], Lepidoptera, Lyonetiidae) was investigated in four districts of Kashmir valley from March 2015 to April 2016. The prevalence of infestation was found higher in Srinagar (70.6 %) and Bandipora (65.3 %) as compared to Pulwama (9.3 %) and Baramulla (6.6 %). Infestation intensity was found at its peak during the month of May (2015) in all the four districts. In Srinagar, the percent infestation intensity during May (2015) was found to be 58.69 % (± 11.46 SD), while as in Bandipora, Pulwama and Baramulla, it was found as 55.71 % (± 12.59 SD), 6.04 % (± 1.97 SD) and 4.27 % (± 1.12 SD) respectively. Infestation of intensity was observed to decline linearly from the first week of June (2015) and disappeared completely with the beginning of winter season. Further, seven generations of L. clerkella were found under laboratory conditions. The1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th, and 6th generations completed in 39, 40, 37, 39, 45 and 48 days respectively. However, final generation (7th) was found relatively longer in duration, extended from the 4th week of September (2015) till April of the following year (2016) for about 204 days. In general, the life cycle of L. clerkella is similar to those described for other leaf miner species.

Evaluating the Efficacy of Insecticides Against the Apple Leaf Miner, Lyonetia clerkella Linn. (Lepidoptera: Lyonetiidae) in Kashmir, India

Lyonetia clerkella Linn. (Lepidoptera: Lyonetiidae) is one of the most destructive insect pests in many parts of the Kashmir valley. In order to find an effective control agent against this lepidopteran pest, we determined the effectiveness of four synthetic insecticides, viz. Dichlorvas 76EC, Chlorpyriphos 20EC, Dimethoate 30EC, and Cartap hydrochloride 4% GR under both field as well as in laboratory conditions. The distilled water was also used as a control in the experiments. The mortality caused by these insecticides was recorded in both larval as well as in adult bioassay experiments. In the larval bioassay experiment, the highest mortality was caused by Cartap hydrochloride 4% GR (93.13%) followed by Dimethoate 30EC (88.97%), whereas in adult bioassay experiment, the highest mortality was caused by Dimethoate 30EC (94.03%). Results obtained in the present study are promising and may be used as a control strategy for the management of this severe leaf miner pest; however, no recommendations concerning the potential use of insecticides for apple orchards can be given, and further studies are needed in this respect, especially under field conditions.

Effect of Diets and Low Temperature Storage on Adult Performance and Immature Development of Phyllonorycter ringoniella in Laboratory.

The Asiatic apple leaf miner, Phyllonorycter ringoniella (Matsumura), is an important insect pest to apples. We developed a rearing method for P. ringoniella in the laboratory. Overwintering pupae were collected from our apple orchard, and crabapple seedlings were selected as oviposition substrate and food source for the larval development. The mean developmental period was 25.9 ± 0.49 days from egg to adult and the survival rate was 0.387 under 25 ± 1 °C, 65 ± 5% RH and a photoperiod of 14:10 (L:D) h. Mean egg length and egg width were 0.336 ± 0.0043 and 0.259 ± 0.0046 mm, respectively. Mean body length and head width increased from 1.070 ± 0.0245 and 0.180 ± 0.0021 mm in first instar larvae to 5.027 ± 0.0718 and 0.321 ± 0.0021 mm in fifth instar larvae, respectively. The mean weight of the pupae was 0.946 ± 0.0132 mg. The wingspan of male adult (6.280 ± 0.0639 mm) was significantly larger than female (6.040 ± 0.0753 mm). The mean fecundity (56.9 ± 8.58 eggs per female) and longevity (8.2 ± 0.55 days) of females was highest when they were provided with 10% honey solution, followed by 10% sugar, water, and control. The females preferred to lay eggs (56.5 ± 3.84%) near the secondary leaf vein in a leaf. The larval mortality increased linearly (R2 = 0.94) with the number of larvae per leaf. The mortality of pupae increased from 5.6 ± 4.01 to 51.1 ± 9.88% as storage periods at 4 °C increased from 0 to 105 days. The rearing method and its biological characteristics presented in this study will contribute to further studies on this pest insect.

Temperature-dependent development of overwintering pupae of Phyllonorycter ringoniella and its spring emergence model

Abstract Asiatic apple leafminer, Phyllonorycter ringoniella (Matsumura), is an important insect pest of apple. Overwintering pupae were collected from the apple orchards on February 11, February 25, and March 15, 2016, respectively. The three cohorts were subjected to six constant temperatures (12.0, 15.0, 20.9, 26.1, 29.9, and 35.6 °C, RH 75 ± 5%) and further development into adults was studied. The developmental period decreased with increasing temperature up to 29.9 °C and no development occurred at high temperature (35.6 °C). The development period was longest at 12.0 °C (56.44 ± 2.72 days) and shortest at 29.9 °C (13.33 ± 1.65 days) from the second sampling colony (February 25, 2016). Based on the linear relationship between developmental rates and temperatures, the lower developmental threshold (LT) and thermal constant (K) of overwintering pupae were estimated to 7.06 °C and 307.6 DD, respectively. The nonlinear Logan-6 model provided good description of temperature-dependent development especially with high temperature inhibition (r2 = 0.99). The cumulative emergence of P. ringoniella from overwintering pupae was well described by the two-parameter Weibull function (r2 = 0.83) using the accumulated degree-days based on the LT 7.06 °C. This model was validated with actual spring emergence data in both semi-field and field conditions in 2015 and 2016. The model would be useful in predicting the spring emergence of P. ringoniella and establishing management tactics against P. ringoniella in apple orchards.

Temperature-Dependent Development of Immature Phyllonorycter ringoniella (Lepidoptera: Gracillariidae) and Its Stage Transition Models.

Asiatic apple leafminer, Phyllonorycter ringoniella (Matsumura), is an important insect pest of apple in Northeast Asia. Its larvae mine the leaves and are best managed by targeted sprays. Little is known about its thermal development characteristics, thus, immature P. ringoniella development was investigated under eight constant temperatures (13.3, 15.3, 20.7, 23.6, 26.1, 30.0, 32.3, and 35.0°C) in the laboratory. The total developmental period of the immature stage (egg-pupa) was inversely related to temperature and decreased from 76.4 d at 13.3°C to 25.9 d at 26.1°C. The developmental periods of eggs, larvae, and pupae ranged from 4.8 to 15.2, 15.5 to 40.3, and 5.7 to 21.6 d, respectively. Eggs, larvae, and pupae did not survive at 35.0°C. According to the ordinary linear model, the lower developmental threshold temperatures for egg, larva, pupa, and total immature stage were estimated as 6.7, 6.7, 9.6, and 7.1°C, and the thermal constants as 93.5, 286.5, 94.6, and 480.1 degree-days (DD), respectively. There were large differences among 11 nonlinear models for estimating lower and upper temperature thresholds, and small differences in estimating optimal temperature. Nonlinear temperature-dependent developmental rates were best represented by Lactin-1 model for egg and Briere-1 model for other stages. Stage transition models from eggs to adults of P. ringoniella were constructed by two-parameter Weibull function with the respective selected nonlinear developmental rate models. This study provides a fundamental understanding of thermal traits of P. ringoniella development which will be a useful tool to predict stage transition and for developing decision-based spray timings for integrated pest management.

Evaluation of Lucerne Cover Crop for Improving Biological Control of &lt;i&gt;Lyonetia Clerkella&lt;/i&gt; (Lepidoptera: Lyonetiidae) by Means of Augmenting Its Predators in Peach Orchards

Evaluation of Lucerne Cover Crop for Improving Biological Control of &lt;i&gt;Lyonetia Clerkella&lt;/i&gt; (Lepidoptera: Lyonetiidae) by Means of Augmenting Its Predators in Peach Orchards

Effect of temperature on longevity and fecundity of Phyllonorycter ringoniella (Lepidoptera: Gracillariidae) and its oviposition model

Asiatic apple leafminer, Phyllonorycter ringoniella, is an important insect pest in apple orchards. However, information on its temperature-dependent reproductive behavior and oviposition model is lacking. The longevity and fecundity of P. ringoniella were investigated at seven constant temperatures (13.7, 15.6, 20.5, 23.7, 26.1, 30.2, and 32.3°C), 60–80% RH, and a photoperiod of 14:10 (L:D) h. The longevity and fecundity of P. ringoniella were significantly influenced by temperature. Female adult longevity ranged from 6.3days at 32.3°C to 18.3days at 15.6°C. The fecundity ranged from 9.9 eggs at 32.3°C to 65.2 eggs at 15.6°C. The preoviposition (1.5–4.1days) and oviposition (1.8–12.6days) periods were significantly affected by temperature, while the postoviposition (1.2–2.2days) period was not. Female adult aging rates (1/mean longevity) were well described by an inverse second-order polynomial function (r2=0.98), which was used to calculate the physiological ages of female adults. The oviposition model of P. ringoniella comprised four components: adult aging rate model, total fecundity model, age-specific oviposition rate model, and age-specific survival rate model. The relationship between mean total fecundity and temperature was well described by an extreme value function (r2=0.95). Age-specific cumulative oviposition rate was well fitted to a three-parameter Weibull function (r2=0.98) and age-specific survival rate to a sigmoid function (r2=0.99), respectively. The model would be useful in predicting egg occurrence of P. ringoniella and establishing a management strategy against P. ringoniella in apple orchards.

Effect of temperature on the demographic parameters of Asiatic apple leafminer, Phyllonorycter ringoniella Matsumura (Lepidoptera: Gracillariidae)

Asiatic apple leafminer, Phyllonorycter ringoniella Matsumura (Lepidoptera: Gracillariidae) is an important insect pest of apple. The effect of five constant temperatures (13.3, 15.3, 20.7, 26.1, and 30.0°C) on the demography of P. ringoniella was examined and the data were analyzed by life table parameters using jackknife technique. Developmental period of immatures (25.9–76.4d) showed significant negative relationship to the temperatures with high temperature inhibition at 30°C. Immature survival was highest at 20.7°C and lowest at 30.0°C. Temperature did not affect the 1:1 female:male ratio. Adult females lived longer (18.6d) and produced highest number of eggs (94.0/female) at 15.3°C but lived shorter (5.4d) and produced least eggs (13.6/female) at 30.0°C. Population growth parameters of net reproductive rate (R0), intrinsic rate of increase (r), and finite rate of increase (λ) were higher at 20.7°C. Mean generation time (T) decreased from 85.2 to 30.5d as temperature increased from 13.3 to 30°C, while the population doubling time (DT) was shortest (10.7d) at 20.7°C. This is the first detailed report on the demographic biology of P. ringoniella, and could facilitate the understanding of population dynamics and could help in decision making for P. ringoniella management in apple orchards.

Mass trapping of apple leafminer, Phyllonorycter ringoniella with sex pheromone traps in apple orchards

The apple leafminer, Phyllonorycter ringoniella Matsumura (Lepidoptera: Gracillariidae), is an important insect pest of apple, with four to six generations a year in Korea, Japan, and China. The effect of mass trapping with sex pheromone traps on P. ringoniella was investigated in apple orchards in 2015 in Yinchuan, China. Trap density treatments were 0, 75, 150, and 225/ha in the Control, T1, T2, and T3 orchard blocks, respectively. Average numbers of male catches per monitoring trap were significantly lower in T2 and T3 treatments and highest in the control. Control efficiencies estimated from the leaf damage were 86.67±4.71, 97.23±3.93, and 100% in T1, T2, and T3, respectively. Significant within-tree migration of the moths from the lower part to the upper part was indicated by the shift of trap catches from lower (1–2m high) to upper portions (3m high) of the tree from early August. Mass trapping with sex pheromone traps can be one effective and environmentally friendly method to reduce the P. ringoniella populations in apple orchards. Trap density of 150/ha and hanging at 2m height was recommended for growers to control and monitor its population, respectively.

Influence of plant surface spray adhesion of dinotefuran and thiodicarb on control of apple leafminer

This study was conducted to obtain the correlation between the plant surface spray adhesion amount of pesticides and the pest control effect. The linearity of the standard curves of dinotefuran and thiodicarb was <TEX>$R^2=0.9999$</TEX>, and recovery was between 70% to 120% which was satisfactory for insecticide residue analyses. The pest control effect was evaluated by assessing the number of apple leafminers (Phyllonorycter ringoniella, Gracillariidae, Lepidoptera) captured by sex pheromone traps from late June to late September in 2015. For the adhesion amount, dinotefuran recovered from trap A and B, respectively were <TEX>$47{\mu}g/50cm^2$</TEX> and <TEX>$23{\mu}g/50cm^2$</TEX>, which can be characterized as a very low adhesion amount in comparison to the average adhesion amount of <TEX>$81{\mu}g/50cm^2$</TEX> in the field. In case of thiodicarb, <TEX>$691{\mu}g/50cm^2$</TEX> and <TEX>$71{\mu}g/50cm^2$</TEX> were recovered from trap A and B, respectively, and the average amount in the field is <TEX>$325{\mu}g/50cm^2$</TEX>. These results showed close correlation with the insect population captured by trap A and B. The numbers of insects captured by trap A and B between the end of July and late August were similar. After spraying thiodicarb on August 28, the number of apple leafminers captured by trap B is bigger than that of trap A. It appears that pest occurrence tended to be high at low adhesion amounts of the active ingredient. Therefore, in order to obtain an optimal control effect, it is suggested that uniform application of insecticides is critical instead of relying on the amount of insecticide applied in the field.

Cloning and functional expression of a chitinase cDNA from the apple leaf miner moth Lithocolletis ringoniella.

Insect chitinase plays essential roles in chitin catabolism involved in digestion and molting during insect development. In the current work, we cloned a chitinase cDNA, LrCht5, from the apple leaf miner moth Lithocolletis ringoniella and characterized its amino acid sequence and protein properties. The L. ringoniella chitinase cDNA was 2136 bp in length with an open reading frame of 1737 bp that encodes a polypeptide of 579 amino acid residues with a predicted molecular mass of 64.4 kDa and pI of 5.49. The catalytic domain has several phosphorylation and glycosylation sites. The recombinant LrCht5 was expressed in Escherichia coli and the Spodoptera frugiperda cell line Sf9, and the LrCht5 expressed in insect cells exhibited chitinolytic activity. LrCht5 was most stable at pH 6.0 and 45°C. This work has potential application in the development of novel and more specific synthetic chitinase inhibitors for use as bioinsecticides.

Confuser® MM can be used as an attractant to enable monitoring of the peach leafminer moth, Lyonetia clerkella (Lepidoptera: Lyonetiidae), in peach orchards treated with a mating disrupter

Sex-pheromone traps baited with a rubber-septum containing 14-methyl-1-octadecene are used to monitor the emergence of adult peach leafminer moths, Lyonetia clerkella (L.) (Lepidoptera: Lyonetiidae), in peach orchards. This compound is also used as a mating disrupter; large amounts of synthetic 14-methyl-1-octadecene can successfully interfere with the mate-finding behavior of the male moths. In peach orchards treated with mating disrupters, however, conventional rubber-septum lures are ineffective, because mating disrupters interfere with male orientation. In this work we demonstrated that a commercially-available mating disrupter, Confuser® MM, can be used as an attractant in orchards treated with mating disrupters. In an indoor flight tunnel experiment, 33–42 % of males pre-exposed to a mating disrupter responded to one to ten Confuser® MM dispensers whereas only 8 % responded to a conventional lure made from a rubber-septum impregnated with a relatively small amount of the sex pheromone. The number of male moths captured by traps baited with five dispensers of Confuser® MM in orchards treated with mating disrupters was positively correlated with the number of males trapped by use of a conventional rubber-septum lure in untreated orchards. This suggests that Confuser® MM can be used as an attractant for monitoring emergence time and relative abundance in an orchard being treated with a mating disrupter.

Potential of radial basis function-based support vector regression for apple disease detection

Plant pathologists detect diseases directly with the naked eye. However, such detection usually requires continuous monitoring, which is time consuming and very expensive on large farms. Therefore, seeking rapid, automated, economical, and accurate methods of plant disease detection is very important. In this study, three different apple diseases appearing on leaves, namely Alternaria, apple black spot, and apple leaf miner pest were selected for detection via image processing technique. This paper presents three soft-computing approaches for disease classification, of artificial neural networks (ANNs), and support vector machines (SVMs). Following sampling, the infected leaves were transferred to the laboratory and then leaf images were captured under controlled light. Next, K-means clustering was employed to detect infected regions. The images were then processed and features were extracted. The SVM approach provided better results than the ANNs for disease classification.

Enantiospecific synthesis and filed evaluation of four stereoisomers of 10,14-dimethyloctadec-1-ene, a sex pheromone component secreted by female moths of the apple leafminer.

All four stereoisomers of 10,14-dimethyloctadec-1-ene, a sex pheromone component of the apple leafminer (Lyonetia prunifoliella: Lepidoptera), were synthesized starting from (R)- and (S)-propylene oxide by applying stereospecific inversion of chiral secondary tosylates as a key step. Field evaluation showed that male moths of the Japanese population were selectively attracted by the (10S,14S)-isomer and that the activity was not inhibited by the enantiomer.

Field trapping of male Phyllonorycter ringoniella using variable ratios of pheromone components

AbstractThe sex pheromone of Phyllonorycter ringoniella (Matsumura) (Lepidoptera: Gracillariidae) has been identified to be a blend of (Z)‐10‐tetradecenyl acetate (Z10‐14:OAc) and E4,Z10‐tetradecadienyl acetate (E4,Z10‐14:OAc) in Japan, Korea, and China. However, the commercial product based on previous results is not attractive enough to be used for monitoring and controlling apple leafminer populations in the field. We re‐investigated the attractiveness of the two pheromone components, singly and in blends, in apple orchards in Shangdong and Shaanxi, the main apple‐growing provinces in China. Our results revealed that Z10‐14:OAc alone was not attractive to P. ringoniella male moths in the field, but E4,Z10‐14:OAc alone not only was strongly attractive but caught more males than any of the blends of Z10‐14:OAc and E4,Z10‐14:OAc tested. The most attractive blend ratios differed slightly for the two locations. No clear dose–response relationship was obtained for the 2:8 blend of Z10‐14:OAc and E4,Z10‐14:OAc. However, the dose–response field study of E4,Z10‐14:OAc alone showed that 1 mg per lure achieved the highest moth catch. These findings differ from the previous report of the best pheromone blend in China. Our data showed that E4,Z10‐14:OAc is the major component of the pheromone of P. ringoniella.

サクラ, オウトウに寄生するモモハモグリガ (Cherly race) とその寄生蜂

サクラ, オウトウに寄生するモモハモグリガ (Cherly race) とその寄生蜂