Host Plant Signal Persistence in the Gut of the Brown Marmorated Stink Bug (Hemiptera: Pentatomidae)

Abstract

Determining the host range of an invasive insect in a new environment is a key step in the development of management strategies. As the brown marmorated stink bug, Halyomorpha halys Stål, expands into agricultural regions of North America, efforts to elucidate its dietary habits on a landscape scale rely on intensive sampling of potential host plants. Although this approach yields useful information, results can be biased toward common and easily sampled plant species; important hosts can be missed if sampling them is impractical or limited in scope. Here we lay the groundwork for the application of gut content analysis to the feeding ecology of H. halys by investigating the persistence of host plant DNA in the digestive tracts of insects with known feeding histories. Adult H. halys were fed bean seedlings (Phaseolus lunatus L.) for 7 d, followed by a forced host switch to carrot (Daucus carota L.). Insect guts were dissected out at 0, 1, 3, 7, and 14 d following the switch, and host plant chloroplast genes (trnF and trnL) were amplified via polymerase chain reaction. Amplicons were identified using high-throughput sequencing and analyzed for Phaseolus DNA. The original host remained detectable at 3 d (trnF) and 14 d (trnL) in substantial quantities. The proportion of total reads identified as Phaseolus rapidly decreased with time; a concomitant increase in Daucus reads was observed. Our results indicate that high-throughput sequencing of gut contents has great potential for exploring the dietary histories of field-caught H. halys and other phytophagous insects.

A Detection Assay to Identify Alternative Food Sources of the Two-Spotted Stink Bug, Bathycoelia distincta (Hemiptera: Pentatomidae)

“…The presence of Z. mays DNA after five days in one of the samples, however, suggests that samples collected later may still provide information of alternative food sources. This timeline differs from what was found for H. halys, fed on Lima beans and transferred to carrots, where the bean DNA could still be detected in low amounts between seven and 14 days after transfer (Hepler et al 2020). This could be due to the different plant species used for feeding, physiological differences between the two stink bug species or the use of different sequencing technologies (PacBio vs MiSeq).…”

“…The trnF marker has also been used for plant detection in psyllids (Cooper et al 2019) and the H. halys stink bug (Hepler et al 2020) supporting this as a good marker for sap-feeding insects. The combination of trnL and trnF, however, provided more extensive plant identifications and better resolution in this study and it is suggested to combine these two markers for future plant meal detections.…”

“…Stink bugs likely feed on both xylem/phloem sap and mesophyll cell contents (Serteyn et al 2020) so plant DNA detection might be less of a restriction for this insect family. The first assay for a stink bug species was recently developed for Halyomorpha halys (Hepler et al 2020), where a feeding time trial suggested the initial plant food source can be detected between 3-14 days after the food were switched to another plant species. The longevity of plant material could vary largely between the aforementioned insects, due to the very different gut structures, and thus food digestion, between heteroptera (a straight gut) and homoptera insects (a midgut loop and filter chamber) (Terra and Ferreira 2003).…”

Halyomorpha halys (Hemiptera: Pentatomidae) trap captures at orchard and nonorchard sites and the influence of uncultivated woody host plants in adjoining woodlots

“…No other hosts were significantly related to adult captures during the late- and full-season. To confirm H. halys are feeding on Fraxinus, molecular gut content analysis, a technique that enables identification of host plants consumed by the target insect species and that has been developed for H. halys , can be used to identify DNA of host plants present in the gut (Hepler et al 2021). This technique could be used to document and confirm the species used by H. halys throughout the season.…”

Identification of Potential Host Plants of Sap-Sucking Insects (Hemiptera: Cicadellidae) Using Anchored Hybrid By-Catch Data

“…Thus far, most such studies have focused on chewing herbivores such as beetles (Coleoptera) and caterpillars (Lepidoptera) that ingest leaf or stem material expected to contain large amounts of host plant DNA, or pollinators such as bees (Hymenoptera) and flies (Diptera) that retain pollen grains on external surfaces of the body [7]. Few attempts have been made to detect host plant DNA in sap-sucking insects (e.g., Hemiptera), many of which feed primarily on plant vascular fluids (phloem and/or xylem) and, therefore, may be less likely to ingest host plant DNA [8][9][10]. Thus far, the only studies of this type focusing on sap-sucking insects have used traditional PCR and Sanger sequencing [8][9][10][11].…”