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ARS Home » Northeast Area » Kearneysville, West Virginia » Appalachian Fruit Research Laboratory » Innovative Fruit Production, Improvement, and Protection » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #288202
Title: Effectiveness of glues for harmonic radar tag attachment on Halyomorpha halys (Hemiptera: Pentatomidae) and their impact on adult survivorship and mobility

Author
item Lee, Doo Hyung
item Wright, Starker
item BOITEAU, GILLES - Agriculture And Agri-Food Canada
item VINCENT, CHARLES - Agriculture And Agri-Food Canada
item Leskey, Tracy

Submitted to: Environmental Entomology
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 3/18/2013
Publication Date: 6/18/2013
Citation: Lee, D., Wright, S.E., Boiteau, G., Vincent, C., Leskey, T.C. 2013. Effectiveness of glues for harmonic radar tag attachment on Halyomorpha halys (Hemiptera: Pentatomidae) and their impact on adult survivorship and mobility. Environmental Entomology. 42:515-523.

Interpretive Summary: Harmonic radar system has been shown to be very effective with tracking of individual insects in the field. This tracking information about target pests can help researchers better understand the movement behavior and pattern of the pests; and thereby, enhance monitoring and management programs. In the study reported here, we developed a protocol to attach radar tags securely on the pronotum of brown marmorated stink bug using commercially available cyanoacrylate glues. We also demonstrated that the tag attachment procedure or the presence of tag on the insect did not adversely affect the movement behavior and capacity of the stink bugs. Therefore, our results indicate that the use of a portable harmonic radar system should make it possible to track the stink bug movements with higher resolutions at various spatial/temporal scales; and thereby, help us better understand their host use patterns and overwintering migrations in the field.

Technical Abstract: We evaluated the effectiveness of three cyanoacrylate glues (trade names: Krazy, Loctite, and FSA) to securely attach harmonic radar tags on adult Halyomorpha halys (Stal) (Hemiptera: Pentatomidae) and quantified the effect of the radar tag attachment on insect survivorship and mobility. In the laboratory, the strength of the glue bond between the radar tag and H. halys pronotum was significantly increased when the pronotum was sanded to remove cuticular waxes. There was no significant difference in the adhesive bond strength among the three types of glue tested. The bond strength ranged between 160 and 190-g force to dislodge the radar tag from the sanded pronotum of H. halys. The three glues had no measurable effect on H. halys survivorship over 7 d, compared with untagged insects. Horizontal distance moved, horizontal walking velocity, and vertical climbing distance of H. halys was unaffected by the presence of the tags regardless of glue over a 7-d period. A field experiment was conducted to compare the free flight behavior of untagged and radar-tagged H. halys. Adults were released on a vertical dowel and their flights were tracked visually up to approximately 200 m beyond the release point. There was no significant difference in time to take-off or in flight distance, time or speed between untagged and radar-tagged individuals. In addition, prevailing flight direction was not significantly different between the two treatments. The absence of measurable impact of the radar tag attachment on H. halys survivorship or mobility validates the use of harmonic radar tags to study the dispersal ecology of this insect.