ARS | Publication request: Effects of egg load on the oviposition behavior of the glassy-winged sharpshooter

Submitted to: Entomological Society of America Regional Meetings
Publication Type: Abstract Only
Publication Acceptance Date: February 22, 2010
Publication Date: April 11, 2010
Citation: Sisterson, M.S. 2010. Effects of egg load on the oviposition behavior of the glassy-winged sharpshooter. Entomological Society of America Regional Meetings, April 11-14, 2010, Boise, ID. Available: http://ipm.wsu.edu/PBESA/PDFsPBESA2010/2010_PBESA_Abstracts_Updated.pdf

Technical Abstract: Egg load (number of mature eggs carried by an adult female) is commonly hypothesized to affect oviposition behavior. The effects of egg load on oviposition behavior of the glassy-winged sharpshooter, Homalodisca vitripennis (Hemiptera: Cicadellidae), were assessed through a series of laboratory bioassays. First, choice and no-choice tests were completed to determine relative preference of females for ovipositing on one of three host plant species. Subsequently, effects of egg load on acceptance of the low ranked and high ranked ovipositional host were assessed. For both hosts, time to deposition of the first egg mass decreased as egg load increased. For females with a given egg load, eggs were deposited sooner on the high ranked host than on the low ranked host. The results confirm that egg load affects ovipositon behavior of the glassy-winged sharpshooter. Thus, understanding factors that affect egg load is critical to understanding host use patterns of this invasive insect.