TY - JOUR

T1 - Manipulation of landing behaviour of two whitefly species by reflective foils

AU - Niemann, Jan Uwe

AU - Menssen, Max

AU - Poehling, Hans Michael

N1 - Funding Information: This work was funded by the Fachagentur Nachwachsende Rohstoffe (FNR), Germany, under the Grant No. 22008214/14NR082. We would like to acknowledge the constant whitefly rearing provided by Mr. Timo Michel. We would also like to acknowledge Mr. Matthias Bierschenk for providing the “experimental setup” graphic and Dr. Julia Müller for helpful advises in language and style. The authors take full responsibility for the content of this publication.

PY - 2021/2

Y1 - 2021/2

N2 - Whiteflies are major pests on several vegetable and ornamental crops. Landing behaviour is strongly influenced by wavelength (nm) of reflected light from ground and surrounding vegetation. This paper deals with manipulation of whitefly landing behaviour in semi-field greenhouse experiments using background foils, either white foils with high reflection of short wavelength radiation or green foils reducing contrast between target plants and background (soil). The reactions of two different whitefly species were compared to detect possible differences between specialist (Aleyrodes proletella) and generalist (Trialeurodes vaporariorum) species. Dual-choice experiments were performed in a greenhouse using ice-lettuce, Lactuca sativa var. capitata (T. vaporariorum) and broccoli, brassica oleracera var. Italica P (A. proletella) as model plants. The results show strong impact of the white reflective foil in controlling landing behaviour of both species, whereas the effect of the contrast-minimising foil was much lower. Light influence was stronger on generalist than on specialist species. Mechanisms behind these effects and opportunities for inclusion in an integrated pest management strategy are discussed.

AB - Whiteflies are major pests on several vegetable and ornamental crops. Landing behaviour is strongly influenced by wavelength (nm) of reflected light from ground and surrounding vegetation. This paper deals with manipulation of whitefly landing behaviour in semi-field greenhouse experiments using background foils, either white foils with high reflection of short wavelength radiation or green foils reducing contrast between target plants and background (soil). The reactions of two different whitefly species were compared to detect possible differences between specialist (Aleyrodes proletella) and generalist (Trialeurodes vaporariorum) species. Dual-choice experiments were performed in a greenhouse using ice-lettuce, Lactuca sativa var. capitata (T. vaporariorum) and broccoli, brassica oleracera var. Italica P (A. proletella) as model plants. The results show strong impact of the white reflective foil in controlling landing behaviour of both species, whereas the effect of the contrast-minimising foil was much lower. Light influence was stronger on generalist than on specialist species. Mechanisms behind these effects and opportunities for inclusion in an integrated pest management strategy are discussed.

KW - Colour opponent mechanism

KW - Contrast minimising

KW - Integrated pest management

KW - Manipulating insect behaviour

KW - Plant protection

KW - Wavelength specific behaviour

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85092725333&partnerID=8YFLogxK

U2 - 10.1007/s41348-020-00394-y

DO - 10.1007/s41348-020-00394-y

M3 - Article

AN - SCOPUS:85092725333

VL - 128

SP - 97

EP - 108

JO - Journal of Plant Diseases and Protection

JF - Journal of Plant Diseases and Protection

SN - 1861-3829

IS - 1

ER -