Does a multi‐plant diet benefit a polyphagous herbivore? A case study with Bemisia tabaci

Bemisia tabaci (Gennadius) (Hemiptera: Aleyrodidae) is a highly polyphagous herbivore. This research was conducted to compare the development of B. tabaci reared in a multi‐plant treatment (polyculture) with those in single‐plant treatments (monocultures). Adult B. tabaci females fed on a mixture of tomato, cabbage, cotton, cucumber, and kidney bean survived longer and laid more eggs than those fed exclusively on one of these plant species. Egg numbers per plant laid in the polyculture treatment were positively correlated with those laid on the same plant species in the monoculture treatments, and egg numbers per plant laid on tomato, cotton, and cucumber in the polyculture were significantly higher than those laid on the same plants in the monocultures. Concentrations of total protein and trehalose in B. tabaci were not significantly different after 7 days of feeding in the respective treatments, but activities of superoxide dismutases (SOD) and alkaline phosphatase (AKP) of B. tabaci in polyculture were lower than those in monoculture. Conversely, activities of trehalase, sucrase, and amylase in B. tabaci kept in polyculture were higher than those of insects from the monoculture. In each of the monoculture treatments, there was a negative correlation between AKP in B. tabaci and oviposition, and also between AKP and amylase. SOD and sucrase activities in B. tabaci were positively correlated with polyphenol oxidase (PPO) and peroxidase (POD) activities in plants. In the plants damaged by whiteflies in the polyculture treatment, activities of SOD in cucumber, PPO in cotton and kidney bean, and POD in tomato and cucumber were lower than those in the monoculture treatments, whereas SOD in cabbage and catalase (CAT) in tomato in the polyculture treatment were higher than those in the monoculture treatments.     

烟粉虱对四种蔬菜寄主的选择性

为探讨利用趋避作用防治烟粉虱的可能性,进行了3方面试验：1）烟粉虱Bemisia tabaci (Gennadius) 对黄瓜、花椰菜、油菜和莴苣等4种蔬菜的寄主选择性; 2）互喷烟粉虱不同嗜好的寄主植物汁液对其寄主选择性的影响; 3）不同间作方式对黄瓜叶上烟粉虱成虫密度的影响。结果表明,烟粉虱对供试植物有明显的选择性,其嗜好程度为花椰菜>黄瓜>油菜>莴苣。喷施莴苣和花椰菜汁液对烟粉虱的寄主选择性均有显著影响,喷施莴苣原液后,花椰菜和黄瓜上的成虫数分别减少79.6%和87.4%,花椰菜上的着卵量减少84.3%;喷施花椰菜原液后,莴苣上的成虫数和着卵量分别增加82.4%和79.2%,表明不同蔬菜中的内含物是引起烟粉虱对寄主选择性的重要原因。在黄瓜中间作莴苣可使黄瓜叶上烟粉虱成虫数平均减少76.5%;间作花椰菜时,通过诱集作用,也可使黄瓜叶上的成虫数平均降低69.7%。这些结果为利用喷施蔬菜汁液和间作方式控制烟粉虱危害提供了理论依据。     

昆虫寄主选择行为的进化机制

昆虫的寄主选择行为受到遗传、可传承的环境因素或学习行为的调控。尽管大量实验已证实昆虫寄主选择中的遗传变异,但在实际中很难将其与温度、营养、条件作用和可传承的环境因素的作用区别开来。一些报道已证实可传承的环境因素会影响昆虫的寄主选择行为。幼虫期和成虫期对寄主的经历可以改变该虫态的取食和产卵寄主偏嗜行为。虽然巴甫洛夫条件反射和神经组织移植实验初步揭示了幼虫经历对成虫气味选择行为的影响,但寄主选择行为中的前印象条件作用尚需进一步验证。在城市垃圾生态系统中,杂食性的蝇类的取食和产卵选择行为较腐食性的蝇类更易受到学习经历的重塑。     

Characterization of alfalfa germplasm expressing resistance to silverleaf whitefly, Bemisia argentifolii

Abstract: Thirty‐eight plants were taken from a University of California alfalfa selection nursery for developing resistance to silverleaf whitefly, Bemisia argentifolii Bellows & Perring. Seventeen of the plants had low whitefly infestation and were categorized as ‘potentially resistant’; 21 of the plants had high whitefly infestation and were categorized as ‘presumed susceptible’. Plants were propagated vegetatively so that replicated measurements of whitefly performance could be made on each genotype. Two colonies of silverleaf whiteflies were used: one reared on alfalfa (alfalfa‐experienced whiteflies), and the other on cotton (alfalfa‐naive whiteflies). The effect of variation among alfalfa genotypes on whitefly performance was similar for both whitefly sources, although on all genotypes, the alfalfa‐experienced whiteflies generally performed better than their alfalfa‐naive counterparts. In greenhouse tests, fecundity of newly eclosed adults (over a 5‐day period) on the 17 potentially resistant genotypes was relatively consistent in being lower than fecundity on the presumed susceptible genotypes. However, in nymphal survival tests, the response on the 17 potentially resistant genotypes was not consistent. Nymphal survival (egg to adult) on some of these was very low, as expected, while nymphal survival on others was as high as on the presumed susceptible genotypes. Fecundity and nymphal survival data were not correlated for alfalfa‐naive whiteflies, and were only weakly correlated (r² = 0.13, d.f. = 32, P = 0.04) for alfalfa‐experienced whiteflies. Thirteen genotypes then were examined in the greenhouse in stage‐specific survival tests, where four genotypes demonstrated high resistance (<10% nymphal survival) and three demonstrated moderate resistance (11–34% survival) compared with the three presumed susceptible genotypes that were tested (51–73% survival). Most of the mortality on the resistant genotypes occurred in the first instar, while mortality was more evenly distributed across the life stages on the susceptible genotypes. Interestingly, if nymphs survived to second instar on the resistant genotypes, then their subsequent survival to adult eclosion was similar to survival of second instar to adult on susceptible genotypes. Six of the genotypes used in the greenhouse stage‐specific survival test also were evaluated in the field for nymphal survival, and these results were consistent with the greenhouse tests.