Location: Invasive Insect Biocontrol & Behavior Laboratory
2024 Annual Report
Objectives
Objective 1: Discover, characterize, develop and/or promote field adoption of pheromones and other behavior-modifying semiochemicals of key vegetable and fruit insect pests such as cucumber beetles, crucifer flea beetles, stink bugs, squash bugs, and spotted-wing drosophila.
Objective 2: Characterize and evaluate native and non-native biological control agents for management of key vegetable pests such as stink bugs, squash bugs, & leaf-footed bugs.
Objective 3: Decipher genomes, biochemical and molecular processes of invasive insect pests in order to mitigate damage by crop and landscape pests, such as stink bugs, gypsy moth, and other invasive species.
Objective 4: Discover and develop microbial and molecular-based biopesticide agents for control of invasive forest and crop insect pests such as gypsy moth and true bugs, and including model species for evaluation.
Objective 5: Utilize molecular approaches to enhance plant defense against destructive insect pests by manipulating the plant defense pathways and insect microflora with a focus on cole crop pests such as those of cabbage and broccoli.
Approach
The project brings together a research team with diverse expertise for multiple approaches to insect management. The proposed project will focus on control of key insect pests in small farms, urban gardens and landscapes, both organic and non-organic. Biobased integrated pest management approaches to be developed will include: (i) discovery and deployment of natural insect attractants and repellents; (ii) conservation and augmentation of beneficial insects; (iii) pest-specific microbial controls [bacteria (including Bacillus thuringiensis strains and Chromobacterium spp.) and baculoviruses]; and, (iv) crop genetic resistance using molecular-based gene discovery. Research will target insect pests that cause major damage to key crops such as cucurbits and cole crops, although other important crops such as small fruit, beans, and potatoes may receive attention for specific problems. Research will also include insect pests that cause major damage to woody plants in the urban landscape. The combination of semiochemical approaches, biological controls, molecular techniques, and crop resistance, will offer a range of non-chemical tactics useful to integrated pest management strategies for major pests in small farms, urban gardens and landscapes.
Progress Report
In support of Objective 1, Researchers at Beltsville, Maryland, completed the development of spotted wing drosophila (SWD) detection tool (five component attractive blend). Researchers at Beltsville, Maryland, continued to develop the application of push-and-pull strategy (attractant to pull SWD away from the orchard and repellent, methyl benzoate, to push SWD out of the orchard) to manage SWD populations and reduce crop damage. ARS scientists in Beltsville, Maryland, established a colony of a newly invasive species, cotton seed bug, in a quarantine containment facility and discovered potential attractant and repellent components. Researchers at Beltsville, Maryland, also completed the development of several controlled release formulations (microencapsulation, satchel, cream, and emulsion of methyl benzoate and its analogs as repellents/insecticides) against SWD, bed bugs, and mosquitoes under laboratory and field conditions.
Researchers at Beltsville, Maryland, are cooperating with University of California, Riverside, California, to test the attractiveness of the recently identified and synthesized pheromone, leptotriene, to various species of leaf-footed bugs in the genus Leptoglossus. This has revealed that males and females of several pest species are strongly attracted, including in the eastern United States L. oppositus, like the western species L. zonatus, L. clypealis and L. occidentalis, but surprisingly not L. phyllopus, a key pest in the Southeast. Work continues to fully understand and apply the chemical ecology of this impactful group, and also its interaction with natural enemies of coreid bugs (see objective 2).
Researchers at Beltsville, Maryland, are performing field experiments with the previously synthesized striped cucumber beetle aggregation pheromone, vittatalactone, in several states, to use an attract-and-kill tactic for both striped and spotted cucumber beetles across the USA. Work with collaborators at Purdue, Virginia Tech, and University of California, Davis, shows that this pheromone can be combined with inexpensive plant-derived volatiles, specifically indole, to increase cost-efficient attraction, but without attracting pollinators, that are attracted especially to some other floral volatiles.
Researchers at Beltsville, Maryland, have started experimental field studies, in cooperation with researchers at Cornell University, Ithaca, New York. on the use of decemdiol, the male-produced aggregation pheromone of the notorious Colorado potato beetle, in trapping, trap cropping, and other potential control tactics. We have been approved for joint grant funding focus on dose-response and isomer ratio requirements, along with potential non-target interactions.
In support of Objective 2, ARS scientists in Beltsville, Maryland, are continuing studies with the biological control agent Hadronotus pennsylvanicus, the key egg parasitoid of squash bug (Anasa spp.) and leaf-footed bugs (Leptoglossus spp.). This information is valuable in providing the groundwork for evaluating how parasitoids find host eggs in multiple habitats and if H. pennsylvanicus can play a role in suppressing populations of Leptoglossus species which are pests of vegetable, fruit and nut (pomegranate, pistachio) and conifer seed crops. Studies in Maryland and in cooperation with the New Jersey Department of Agriculture’s Beneficial Insect Laboratory will clarify the value of early-season augmentation of H. pennsylvanicus to suppress squash bug populations in cucurbits, and also, the role of host pheromones in the attraction and retention of these parasitoids in the field.
In support of Objective 3, Researchers at Beltsville, Maryland, continue studies on various hemipteran agricultural pests genomes were not sequenced by Ag100 as specified in the 5-year project plan. However, Researchers at Beltsville, Maryland, researchers have undertaken sequencing the genome of Oxycarenus hyalinipennis, the cotton seed bug, which requires developing a Hemiptera-aware gene annotation pipeline (an adaptation of a Lepidoptera-specific pipeline previously used to annotate European and Asian Lymantria dispar lineages). It also involves comparative genomics and synteny analyses with hemipteran genomes, including that of Halyomorpha halys, the brown marmorated stinkbug.
Transcriptomic resources for agricultural pest insects were developed including Bagrada hilaris (Burmeister), a widespread invasive pest of Brassicales, where numerous differentially expressed genes, including elements implicated in xenobiotic detoxification and insect growth, were identified. A transcriptome assembly, annotation and analysis was also undertaken for Oxycarenus hyalinipennis, where differentially expressed genes were identified and a variety of gene families phylogenetically characterized, thereby identifying potential gene disruption targets.
In support of Objective 4, work continued on the phylogenetic placement and phenotypic characteristics of a novel species of crystal forming Bacillus. The new species possesses genes encoding a novel member of the Cry protein family.
Researchers at Beltsville, Maryland, along with researchers at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, Massachusetts, commenced research on a project to assess insecticidal activity of all known Chromobacterium species and identify genetic loci responsible for toxicity to different orders of insects.
A team of scientists from IRBI Tours, Université Lyon, Alpes, France, and Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, Virginia, and ARS researchers in Beltsville, Maryland, discovered a new family of filamentous viruses associated mostly with Hymentopteran parasitoids of interest for biocontrol of Lepidopteran pests. Genomes of six filamentous viruses were newly obtained and characterized. A new family, Filamentoviridae, was proposed for these viruses.
A metatranscriptomic analysis of Lymantria dispar revealed its response to infection by a panel of diverse microbial pathogens. The analysis results helped to identify candidate gene targets for knockdown and/or knockout. Experimental investigation of these genes has been slowed by extensive damage to laboratory equipment, tenuous stopgap laboratory infrastructure, and loss of critical personnel.
ARS researchers in Beltsville, Maryland, completed nine draft genome sequence assemblies from sequencing data sets generated for baculoviruses in the virus collection. Initial analysis indicates that these viruses include previously undescribed betabaculoviruses from the jute hairy caterpillar (Olepa ricini), the yellow top borer (Chilo infuscatellus), the common buckeye (Junonia coenia), and the variegated cutworm (Peridroma saucia). A complete densovirus genome was also assembled from the sequence data of the common buckeye betabaculovirus, and two distinct betabaculovirus genomes were assembled from the dataset generated for the yellow top borer virus sample. A full analysis was completed on the genome of a betabaculovirus from the tufted apple bud moth (Platynota idaeusalis), and comparison with the tufted apple bud moth alphabaculovirus genome revealed a recent instance of recombination in which the alphabaculovirus acquired approximately 1.5 kilobase pairs of sequence from the betabaculovirus. Of these host species, four are economically important. The variegated cutworm (a pest of many fruits and vegetables) and the tufted apple bud moth are typically controlled by chemical insecticides, and their viruses have the potential for development into non-chemical controls of these pests.
Accomplishments
1. Cotton Seed Bug (CSB)Colony Established and Biology and Chemical Ecology assessed. ARS researchers in Beltsville, Maryland, successfully established the first cotton seed bug (CSB) Oxycarenus hyalinipennis colony in the U.S. in a quarantine containment facility. This enabled a comprehensive study on the life cycle of CSB, including egg development, metamorphosis, adult mating behavior, adult lifespan, and survivorship, as well as attractants and repellents used by this pest, which provided new insights into population characteristics. This information will help scientists and growers to understand the basic ecology of CSB and develop efficient management plans for use in integrated pest management (IPM) strategies for timely infestation intervention and to protect cotton crops and other agricultural commodities from CSB damage.
Review Publications
Park, Y., Choi, K., Cullum, J.P., Hoelmer, K.A., Weber, D.C., Morrison Iii, W.R., Rice, K.B., Krawczyk, G., Fleischer, S.J., Hamilton, G., Ludwick, D., Nielsen, A.L., Kaser, J.M., Polk, D., Shrewsbury, P.M., Bergh, J., Kuhar, T.P., Leskey, T.C. 2024. Landscape-scale spatiotemporal dynamics of Halyomorpha halys (Stal) (Hemiptera: Pentatomidae) populations: implications for spatially-based pest management. Pest Management Science. https://doi.org/10.1002/ps.7772.
Blackburn, M.B., Tannieres, M., Sparks, M., Gundersen, D.E., Marie-Claude, B. 2024. Serratia montpellierensis sp. nov., isolated from laboratory reared parasitic wasps Psyttalia lounsburyii and Psyttalia ponerophaga (Hymenoptera: Braconidae). Current Microbiology. 81:146. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00284-024-03666-0.
Gale, C., Ferguson, B., Rodriguez-Saona, C., Shields, V.D., Zhang, A. 2024. Evaluation of a push-pull strategy for Spotted-wing Drosophila management in Highbush Blueberry. Insects. 15(1):47. https://doi.org/10.3390/insects15010047.
Ahmed, M., Hu, J.S., Strickland, J.A., Krueger, R., Shannon, C., Zhang, A. 2024. Reproductive behavior and development of the global insect pest cotton seed bug. Insects. Insects 2024, 15(1), 65;. https://doi.org/10.3390/insects15010065.
Boyle, S.M., Cornelius, M., Talamas, E.J., Straser, R.K., Wilson, H., Daane, K.M., Weber, D.C., Kuhar, T.P. 2024. Hadronotus pennsylvanicus (Hymenoptera: Scelionidae): A biological control agent for pestiferous leaffooted bugs (Hemiptera: Coreidae). Journal of Integrated Pest Management. 15(1):15. https://doi.org/10.1093/jipm/pmae007 .
Van Oers, M.M., Herniou, E.A., Jehle, J.A., Krell, P.J., Abd-Alla, A.M., Theilmann, D.A., Ribeiro, B.M., Hu, Z., Harrison, R.L. 2023. Developments in the classification and nomenclature of arthropod-infecting large DNA viruses that contain pif genes. Archives of Virology. 168. Article e182. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00705-023-05793-8.
Guinet, B., Leobold, M., Herniou, E., Bloin, P., Burlet, N., Bredlau, J., Navratil, V., Ravallec, M., Uzbekov, R., Kester, K., Gundersen, D.E., Drezen, J., Varaldi, J., Bezier, A. 2024. A novel and diverse family of filamentous DNA viruses associated with parasitic wasps. Virus Evolution. 10(1). Article eveae022. https://doi.org/10.1093/ve/veae022.