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PubMed2003

Copulatory courtship signals male genetic quality in cucumber beetles.

In the spotted cucumber beetle, Diabrotica undecimpunctata howardi (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae), males court females during copulation by stroking them with their antennae. Stroking occurs exclusively during the first stages of copulation, after a male has penetrated a female's vaginal duct but before he is allowed access to her bursa copulatrix. Females accept the spermatophore of fast-stroking males and reject those of slow-stroking males by relaxing or constricting muscles distorting the vaginal duct. Here, we measure the repeatability of stroking behaviour within males, examine the effect of losing one antenna on male attractiveness and test whether such female control results in direct phenotypic benefits for the discriminating female or indirect genetic benefits that appear in her offspring. We also use a half-sibling design to quantify the variance and heritability of stroking speed and endurance. Female beetles were paired with a male that was known to stroke either quickly or slowly. No difference was found in the resulting fecundity or egg-hatching rate of the females, or in the survivorship, development rate, size, age at first reproduction or fecundity of their offspring indicating that no direct benefits are gained by discriminating among males on the basis of stroking speed. There were, however, good-genes benefits for the mates of fast-stroking males. Offspring of fast-stroking fathers were also fast strokers and were more likely to be accepted as mates than offspring of slow-stroking fathers. There was substantial variance among sires in stroking speed and endurance and the heritability of each trait was high. The antennal stroking rate was highly repeatable in successive mating attempts and males with only one antenna were not accepted as mates. The repeatability within males, variability between males and heritability between generations of copulatory stroking combine to provide females with a reliable and honest signal of the genetic quality of courting males.

Animals↗
PubMed2005

Monitoring cucumber beetles in sweetpotato and cucurbits with kairomone-baited traps.

Seven kairomone formulations (Trécé, Inc., Salinas, CA) were evaluated for their effectiveness as attractants for luring three species of cucumber beetles into Pherocon CRW traps (Trécé, Inc.) in cucurbit and sweetpotato fields. The spotted cucumber beetle, Diabrotica undecimpunctata howardi Barber; the banded cucumber beetle, Diabrotica balteata LeConte; and the striped cucumber beetle, Acalymma vittatum (F.), were captured in this study. TRE8276 (TIC mixture: 500 mg of 1,2,4-trimethoxybenzene, 500 mg of indole, and 500 mg of trans-cinnamaldeyde) and TRE8336 (500 mg of 1,2,4-trimethoxybenzene, 500 mg of trans-cinnamaldeyde, 500 mg of 4-methoxyphenethanol) were the most effective lures for spotted and striped cucumber beetles. None of the kairomone lures was very effective for attracting banded cucumber beetles. Three population peaks of spotted cucumber beetles were observed in cucurbit and sweetpotato fields at the U.S. Vegetable Laboratory (Charleston, SC). The efficacy of TRE8276 declined rapidly after 2 wk in the field. An improved design of the Pherocon CRW trap, with a yellow bottom and more-tapered top section, was more effective for capturing cucumber beetles than the original trap design made entirely of clear plastic. Banded cucumber beetles were not captured in sweetpotato fields at inland locations in North Carolina or South Carolina.

Animals↗
PubMed1999

Allozyme gene diversities in some leaf beetles (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae).

Gene diversity at allozyme loci was investigated in the bean leaf beetle, Ceratoma trifurcata Forster; the elm leaf beetle, Xanthogaleruca luteola (Muller); the cottonwood leaf beetle, Chrysomela scripta Fabricus; the western corn rootworm, Diabrotica virgifera virgifera LeConte; the southern corn rootworm, also called the spotted cucumber beetle, D. undecimpunctata howardi Baker; the northern corn rootworm, D. barberi Smith and Lawrence; and the Colorado potato beetle, Leptinotarsa decemlineata (Say). Six of these species are economically important pests of crops and display adaptive traits that may correlate with genetic diversity. Gene diversity H(E) in bean leaf beetles was 17.7 +/- 4.0% among 32 loci. In western corn rootworms, H(E) = 4.8 +/- 2.0% among 36 loci, and in spotted cucumber beetles, H(E) = 11.9 +/- 2.7% among 39 loci. Diversity among 27 loci was 10.5 +/- 4.3% in the Colorado potato beetle. The data were compared with gene diversity estimates from other leaf beetle species in which heterozygosities varied from 0.3 to 21% and no correlation was detected among heterozygosities, geographic ranges, or population densities. Distributions of single-locus heterozygosities were consistent with selective neutrality of alleles.

Animals↗
PubMed2001

Effect of a phloxine B-cucurbitacin bait on diabroticite beetles (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae).

Cucurbitacin E glycoside, extracted from a bitter mutant of Hawkesbury watermelon [Citrulls lanatus (Thunb.) Matsum. & Nakai (Syn. Citrullus vulgaris Schrad)] is the active ingredient of a feeding stimulant for the corn rootworm complex. It is the primary component of a water-soluble bait that can be combined with toxins for adult diabroticite control. Studies were conducted using phloxine B (D&C Red 28), a xanthene dye, as the toxin. This dye was efficacious against Diabrotica undecimpunctata howardi Barber, spotted cucumber beetle, and Acalymma vittatum (F.), striped cucumber beetle, in cucumber plots and could be recovered from cucumber leaves for 8 d after treatment. The average amount of dye recovered per dead spotted cucumber beetle at 8 d after treatment was 0.173 microg. Concentrated and sugar-free fermented forms of the watermelon extract were developed and compared with the fresh juice in field applications on cucumber plants. There was no significant difference in mortality of beetles from phloxine B-bait prepared with fresh, fermented, or concentrated extract, although in laboratory studies, fermented juice had higher feeding stimulant activity.

Animals↗
PubMed2002

Stabilization of cucurbitacin E-glycoside, a feeding stimulant for diabroticite beetles, extracted from bitter Hawkesbury watermelon.

Cucurbitacins are feeding stimulants for diabroticite beetles, including corn rootworms and cucumber beetles, which can be added to a bait containing an insecticide thereby reducing the levels of other insecticide treatments needed to control these pests. One of them, cucurbitacin E-glycoside, is water soluble and easily processed from mutant bitter Hawkesbury watermelons (BHW) that express elevated levels of cucurbitacin. Storage of BHW extract at room temperature resulted in a 92% reduction of cucurbitacin E-glycoside over two months, while refrigeration or freezing resulted in a 60% loss of the active ingredient during this time. The loss of the active ingredient was correlated with an increase in BHW extract pH from 5 to greater than 9. The increase in pH of the BHW extracts at room temperature appeared to be due to the growth of certain bacteria, especially Bacillusspp. In refrigerated extracts, the pH remained relatively constant, and bacterial growth was dominated by bacteria such as Lactobacilli. An alternative to refrigeration is concentration of BHW extract. One means of concentration is spray drying, but the high sugar content of the BHW extract (20mg/ml glucose, 40mg/ml fructose) makes this technique impractical. Fermentation of the BHW extract by the yeast, Saccharomyces boulardii, eliminated the sugars and did not raise the pH nor alter the cucurbitacin E-glycoside content of the extract. Elimination of the sugars by fermentation produced an extract that could be successfully spray dried. BHW extract fermented by S. boulardii produced a higher level of feeding stimulation for spotted cucumber beetles in laboratory choice tests. When applied to cucumbers, there was no difference in control of spotted and striped cucumber beetles between baits of fresh or fermented juices combined with the same insecticide.

Animals↗
PubMed2026

A chromosome-scale assembly for the genome of southern corn rootworm, Diabrotica undecimpunctata.

Diabrotica undecimpunctata ssp. howardi, the southern corn rootworm or eastern 12-spotted cucumber beetle, is a generalist insect herbivore that causes damage and yield loss to several crops in North America including maize. Unresolved phylogenetic relationships within and among D. undecimpunctata subspecies are impacting current quarantine policies. We report the chromosome-level haploid genome assembly, icDiaUnde3, constructed using HiFi and Hi-C read data from a single male D. undecimpunctata collected and identified as subspecies howardi based on geographic location and morphology. The primary 1.74 Gbp assembly is scaffolded into 11 chromosome-length scaffolds representing 9 autosomes, a single X chromosome and a supernumerary (B) chromosome (scaffold N50 = 162.8 Mb and L50 = 5). Ab initio and evidence-based structural reference sequence (RefSeq) annotations predicted 18,959 protein-coding genes, in which 99.2% of the 1,367 Benchmark Universal Single-Copy Orthologs from Insecta were complete. Repeat elements occupy 1.26 Gbp (72.33%) of the icDiaUnde3 assembly, with nearly 36% predicted to be retroelements. Alignment of whole chromosomes from icDiaUnde3 with those previously assembled from Diabrotica spp. predicted 2 and 6 autosomal inversions with D. balteata and D. virgifera virgifera, respectively. The mitochondrial genome had an annotated gene order and orientation conserved among beetles. The icDiaUnde3 reference genome assembly is a vital resource for taxonomic, comparative, and functional studies to enhance sustainable crop production.

agriculture↗
PubMed1987

New spiroplasmas from insects and flowers: isolation, ecology, and host association.

Eight spiroplasma strains from insects and one from spring flowers failed to react with antisera specific for any of the 11 described spiroplasma groups, with sera directed against spiroplasma Group I subgroups, or with sera directed against two unnumbered groups previously reported to occur in tabanid flies. Strains, all from Maryland, were isolated from the hemolymph of the spotted cucumber beetle Diabrotica undecimpunctata and the lampyrid beetle Ellychnia corrusca, and the guts of the cantharid beetles Cantharis bilineatus and C. carolinus. Other strains were obtained from a tabanid fly, Tabanus gladiator and from the firefly Photuris pennsylvanica in Maryland and from the mosquito Culex tritaeniorhynchus in Taiwan. An isolate from pooled Cicadulina bipunctella leafhoppers in Syria apparently represented a unique group. A single isolate from spring flowers in Oklahoma also appeared to be unrelated to existing groups or subgroups. One-way deformation tests using sera prepared against known beetle and tabanid spiroplasmas showed each of the above strains to be unique. Although these results strongly indicate that the nine strains studied are representatives of unique new spiroplasma groups, the formal designation of new groups awaits fulfillment of recently proposed criteria.

Animals↗
PubMed2004

Efficacy of Piper (Piperaceae) extracts for control of common home and garden insect pests.

Extracts from three species of the plant family Piperaceae, Piper nigrum [L.], Piper guineense [Schum & Thonn, and Piper tuberculatum [Jacq.], were tested for efficacy against insects from five orders. All three species contain isobutyl amides, plant secondary compounds that act as neurotoxins in insects. These materials are considered safe to mammals because Piper spp. were used for centuries for spice and medicinal purposes. When 24-h P. nigrum LC50 values were compared between common insect pests from eastern Canada and the northeastern United States, the most sensitive species in order of increasing lethal concentration were eastern tent caterpillar, Malacosoma americanum (F.) < European pine sawfly larvae, Neodiprion sertifer (Geoffroy) < spindle ermine moth larvae, Yponomeuta cagnagella [Hübner] < viburnum leaf beetle larvae, Pyrrhalta viburni [Paykull] < stripped cucumber beetle adults, Acalymma vittatum (F.) < Colorado potato beetle adults, Leptinotarsa decemlineata (Say) < Japanese beetle adults, Popillia japonica [Newman] < hairy chinch bug, Blissus leucopterus hirtis [Montandon]. The life stage tested was the point at which each species causes the greatest amount of damage to the host plant and the point at which most gardeners would likely choose to treat with a conventional synthetic insecticide. Greenhouse trials revealed that the pepper formulations also had a repellent activity, thus protecting plant leaves from 1) herbivory (lily leaf beetle, Lilioceris lilii [Scopoli], adults and larvae and stripped cucumber beetle adults) and 2) oviposition [European corn borer, Ostrinia nubilalis (Hübner)]. Combinations with other botanical extracts were additive at best in toxicity and repellent trials. Nontarget toxicity to beneficial invertebrates is a possibility because the P. nigrum LC50 for beneficial ladybird beetles was 0.2%. P. nigrum extracts can provide a reasonable level of control against lepidopteran and European pine sawfly larvae and also will work as a short-term repellent and feeding deterrent. It is recommended that the use of Piper extracts be restricted to small-scale spot treatments in residential areas where insect pest outbreaks have occurred.

Animals↗