Mating periodicity and post-mating refractory period in the zoophytophagous plant bug Macrolophus caliginosus (Heteroptera: Miridae)

Abstract

Abstract. The zoophytophagous mirid bug Macrolophus caliginosus is an important biocontrol agent of whiteflies in the Mediterranean region. Periods of low productivity in commercial breeding units and unsuccessful establishment in greenhouses prompted this study of mating behaviour. Here we describe copulation behaviour, the diel mating periodicity and post-copulatory refractory period. A natural plant substrate needs to be provided if one wants to observe the copulatory behaviour of M. caliginosus in the laboratory. There was no apparent directional orientation in the approach of the two sexes, instead males pursued females after "accidentally" contacting them. Males mounted females from above, very rapidly, and without any obvious courtship behaviour, and copulation duration was very consistent (286.33 ± 4.23 s, mean ± SE). Observations over a 24-h period showed that mating was most frequent in the 8-h scotophase and first half of the 16-h photophase than in the second half of the photophase. Mated females became strongly unreceptive to new male mounting attempts, shaking their abdomen and leaving the plant if harassed. To determine the duration of the post-mating refractory period mating receptivity of females that had mated 1 or 2 weeks earlier was compared with that of virgin females of similar age. Mated females remained unreceptive even 2 weeks after mating, whereas half of the virgin females of equivalent age mated. Mated females were more likely to abandon a plant than virgin females when harassed by a male. Most males remated a few minutes after mating for the first time. M. caliginosus is atypical among mirids in that females apparently mate only once.

Aggregation Behavior of the Southern Chinch Bug (Hemiptera: Blissidae)

“…This result, however, does not prove that females are never attracted to males. The insects used in this study were Þeld collected and a large proportion may have mated before the bioassays, decreasing their sexual responsiveness to males as is the case for a wide range of insects, including hemipterans such as the rice leaf bug, Trigonotylus caelestialium (Kirkaldy) (Yamane et al 2011), and the whiteßy predator, Macrolophus caliginosus Wagner (Gemeno et al 2007). There remains the possibility that unmated females would be attracted to male bugs.…”

Evidence of Female-Produced Sex Pheromone of Adelphocoris suturalis (Hemiptera: Miridae): Effect of Age and Time of Day

“…Most mirids become sexually mature several days after adult emergence, and female mirids could release volatile sex pheromones to attract conspeciÞc males (Zhang and Aldrich 2003, Innocenzi et al 2005, Gemeno et al 2007). In our study, males of A. suturalis responded to odors from sexually mature virgin female in a Y-tube bioassay, indicating that mature females could attract males.…”

“…This is possible because the female production of pheromone is maximal during this time, and another reason may be that females produce pheromone all the time, but males only respond during this time. Similar results have been reported in previous studies, males of P. difficilis ßight to sex-attractant traps started Ϸ1800 hours and stopped after midnight, with peak ßight occurring between 2000 and 2200 hours, and no ßights to the traps were observed during daytime (Zhang and Aldrich 2003); in P. calli, males were collected or trapped during the Þrst half of the scotophase (after sunset to midnight) (Zhang and Aldrich 2008); and in Macrolophus caliginosus, mating was most frequent in the scotophase and the Þrst half of the photophase (Groot et al 1998, Gemeno et al 2007). However, females of S. rubrovittatus could be attractive to males in a broad time of day except from 1200 to 1600 hours when baited with 10 virgin females per trap (Kichishima et al 2009), and no daily periodicity was found in sex pheromone emission by females in T. caelestialium (Higuchi et al 2007).…”

De novo analysis of the Adelphocoris suturalis Jakovlev metathoracic scent glands transcriptome and expression patterns of pheromone biosynthesis-related genes

“…The plant bug, Adelphocoris suturalis Jakovlev is now a major pest on cotton in Southern China (Lu et al, 2008a). Mirid pheromones serve as the key mediators of intra-or-inter-specific communications, one of this is that a female produces volatile sex pheromones to attract conspecific male to copulation (Gemeno et al, 2007;Innocenzi et al, 2005). Our previous work reported that a female becomes sexually mature 4 days after adult emergence and they produced sex pheromones around 8-11 days old (Zhang et al, 2011), these pheromones are synthesized and released by metathoracic scent glands (MTGs) which are composed of well-developed reservoir and paired lateral glands (Zhang et al, 2014).…”