ARS | Publication request: Quantification of Movement and Spatiotemporal Distribution of Homalodisca vitripennis (Germar) (Hemiptera: Cicadellidae) in a Citrus Orchard Using a Protein Marking Technique

Submitted to: Entomological Society of America Annual Meeting
Publication Type: Abstract Only
Publication Acceptance Date: June 2, 2009
Publication Date: December 13, 2009
Citation: Krugner, R., Johnson, M.W., Hagler, J.R., Groves, R., Morse, J.G. 2009. Quantification of Movement and Spatiotemporal Distribution of Homalodisca vitripennis (Germar) (Hemiptera: Cicadellidae) in a Citrus Orchard Using a Protein Marking Technique. Entomological Society of America Annual Meeting. Available: http://esa.confex.com/esa/2009/webprogram/Paper39813.html.

Technical Abstract: Effect of plant water stress on Homalodisca vitripennis dispersal and movement was evaluated in citrus orchard during a two-year study. Irrigation treatments included watering at 100%, 80%, and 60% of the crop evapotranspiration (ETc). Movement of H. vitripennis among treatment plots was quantified through a mark and capture technique using protein markers (soy milk, whole milk, and egg white) and yellow sticky traps. In 2006, 75, 78 and 63% of H. vitripennis captured in the 60, 80, and 100% ETc treatments, respectively, were insects that immigrated from the other two irrigation treatment plots. Movement of H. vitripennis from its preferred habitat (80% ETc treatment plots) towards unsuitable host plants (trees irrigated at 60% ETc), combined with estimates of population densities observed in visual and beat sampling, suggest that in mature orchards H. vitripennis is unable to use visual or olfactory cues to search for a suitable host plant and thus, plant selection is determined after contact with the plant by chemosensory or mechanosensory stimulus after probing.