Tomato Plant and Leaf Age Effects on the Probing and Settling Behavior of Frankliniella fusca and Frankliniella occidentalis (Thysanoptera: Thripidae)

Abstract

The effect of tomato, Solanum lycopersicum L., plant and leaf age on the probing and settling behavior of Frankliniella fusca (Hinds) and F. occidentalis (Pergande) was studied using electrical penetration graph technique and whole plant bioassays. Male and female F. fusca probed and ingested more and for longer periods of time on 3- and 4-wk-old plants compared with 6- and 8-wk-old plants. Female F. fusca probed and ingested more frequently than males in the plant age experiment, but not in the leaf age experiment. F. fusca probed and ingested more frequently on 2- and 4-wk-old leaves compared with 1-wk-old leaves. Plant age did not affect the probing frequency or duration of F. occidentalis; however, males probed and ingested longer than females in the plant age experiment and on the oldest leaf in the leaf age experiment. Both thrips species preferred to settle on 3-wk-old plants. F. fusca preferred to settle on 4-wk-old leaves after settling randomly for an hour. F. occidentalis showed no settling preference relative to leaf age. The preference of F. fusca for young plants suggests that this species could attack tomato plants at a very early stage, which is important for understanding its role as a vector in the transmission of Tospovirus in the field.

Plant to Plant Movement

“…The B biotype (Middle East-Asia Minor 1 species) which is an aggressive colonizer and it is an effective vector of viruses and Q biotype (Mediterranean species) which shows strong resistance to novel insecticides are the most invasive and damaging. Frankliniella fusca prefers feeding on young plants whereas F. occidentalis shows no settling preference in relation to leaf age (Joost and Riley, 2008). Panel (B) from Gil-Fernandez and Black (1965) modified by Black to conform with the findings of Bharadwaj et al (1966) D. Thrips (Thysanoptera) (reviewed by Jones, 2005;Whitfield et al, 2005) Of the 5000 or so species of thrips, only 17 species, all in the family Thripidae, are reported as vectors of plant viruses (Table 12.3).…”

Interactive Effects of UV-B Light with Abiotic Factors on Plant Growth and Chemistry, and Their Consequences for Defense against Arthropod Herbivores

“…Some herbivore arthropods show a high feeding and oviposition preference for older parts of the plants over the young ones. Some examples are the whitefly Bemisia tabaci ( Zhang and Wan, 2012 ) and the thrips Frankliniella fusca on tomato ( Solanum lycopersicum ) ( Joost and Riley, 2008 ), F. occidentalis on Senecio hybrids ( Senecio jacobaea × Senecio aquaticus ) ( Leiss et al, 2009 ) and tomato ( Mirnezhad et al, 2010 ), and the larvae of Spodoptera litura on radish ( Raphanus sativus ) ( Yadav et al, 2010 ). We can, therefore, speculate that an encounter of the herbivore with better protected old leaves might negatively impact their performance and/or survival.…”

Factors Affecting Thrips (Thysanoptera: Thripidae) Population Densities in Watermelon Crops

“…The preference of F. schultzei for younger leaves might be related to the higher nutritional quality of these leaves; for example, the presence of high concentrations of protein, carbohydrates, and vitamins (Bernays & Chapman 1994;Gurevitch et al 2006;Newton et al 2009). Higher nutrient concentrations in young leaves compared to older leaves is due to the nutrient translocation (especially nitrogen) from older to younger leaves (Mattson 1980;Joost & Riley 2008;Barker & Pilbeam 2015;Mengel 2015). In addition, older leaves often have a tough epidermis, as well as larger trichomes (Leite et al 2004), which may prevent insects from feeding on them (Scott Brown & Simmonds 2006).…”

“…Among the principal factors that regulate pest populations on crops are the characteristics of the host plant, weather and climate, and populations of natural enemies (Price et al 1980). Among the characteristics of the host plant that affect populations of herbivorous insects are phenological stage (Herms 2004), and the age of the plant tissue on which these organisms feed (Joost & Riley 2008;Rosado et al 2015). The age and phenological stage of the plant on which the insects feed also may affect the nutritional content, as well as the chemical and morphological defenses against arthropod herbivores (Moreira et al 2016).…”