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ARS Home » Pacific West Area » Maricopa, Arizona » U.S. Arid Land Agricultural Research Center » Pest Management and Biocontrol Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #258080

Title: Diapause response of laboratory reared and native lygus hesperus knight (Memiptera:Miridae)

Author
item Brent, Colin
item SPURGEON, DALE - US Department Of Agriculture (USDA)

Submitted to: Environmental Entomology
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 1/10/2011
Publication Date: 4/5/2011
Citation: Brent,C.S., Spurgeon,D.W. 2011. Diapause response of laboratory reared and native lygus hesperus knight (Memiptera:Miridae). Environmental Entomology. 40(2):455-461.

Interpretive Summary: Diapuase, a state of decreased metabolic activity and reduced fecundity, was studied in the western tarnished plant bug, Lygus hesperus Knight. Previous studies in this species regarding the stimuli that induce diapause produced inconsistent results that could be attributed either to differences in the criteria being applied to assess diapause status or to differences in the sources of the bugs. To determine the cause of variation and to refine the criteria used to define diapause status, we obtained eggs from adults collected from the field and from long-term laboratory colonies. Concurrent experiments were conducted at two locations. L. hesperus were reared from egg to adulthood under long- or short-day photoperiods and adults were dissected at 10 days post-eclosion to evaluate diapause status using both stringent and relaxed morphological criteria. Under both sets of criteria, offspring of field caught parents were more likely to enter diapause with short day exposure than those from stock colonies. The relaxed criteria appeared appropriate for distinguishing diapause in males, whose reproductive organs can appear undeveloped after mating, whereas the stringent criteria appeared appropriate for females. Additional analyses were conducted to determine whether extended laboratory rearing influenced other behavioral or physiological traits. Bugs from stock colonies were more likely to mate, and to oviposit as virgins, than were bugs originating from the field. The results demonstrate a pronounced effect of colony rearing on L. hesperus physiology and behavior, and have also led to refinement of the criteria used to assess diapause status.

Technical Abstract: Inconsistencies among results of previous studies on the induction of adult diapause in the western tarnished plant bug, Lygus hesperus Knight, could be attributed either to differences in the criteria being applied to assess diapause status or to differences in the sources of the bugs. To determine the cause of variation and to refine the criteria used to define diapause status, we obtained eggs from adults collected from the field and from long-term laboratory colonies. Concurrent experiments were conducted at two locations. L. hesperus were reared from egg to adulthood under photoperiods of either 10- or 14-h and at a constant temperature (26.6°C, Shafter, CA; 27.5°C, Maricopa, AZ). Adults were dissected at 10 days post-eclosion to evaluate diapause status using both stringent and relaxed morphological criteria. Under both sets of criteria, offspring of field caught parents were more likely to enter diapause with short day exposure than those from stock colonies. The relaxed criteria appeared appropriate for distinguishing diapause in males, whose reproductive organs can appear undeveloped after mating, whereas the stringent criteria appeared appropriate for females. Additional analyses were conducted to determine whether extended laboratory rearing influenced other behavioral or physiological traits. Bugs from stock colonies were more likely to mate, and to oviposit as virgins, than were bugs originating from the field. The results demonstrate a pronounced effect of colony rearing on L. hesperus physiology and behavior, and have also led to refinement of the criteria used to assess diapause status.