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Mating Behavior and Performance in the Two Cosmopolitan Mealybug Species Planococcus citri and Pseudococcus calceolariae (Hemiptera: Pseudococcidae)

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Abstract

Mating strategies of mealybugs were investigated using two heterogeneric cosmopolitan species as case study: Planococcus citri (Risso) and Pseudococcus calceolariae (Maskell). Male mating behavior of the studied species differed in respect to mate selection, and frequency and duration of copulation. Females played an active role in mate selection, by either facilitating or resisting copulation. This is a first evidence of female sexual active behavior in scale insects. In both species, male predisposition to mate was affected by previous exposition to light. The frequency of courtship and copulation decreased with the age of females for Pl. citri but not for Ps. calceolariae. Mating frequency increased with female colony density in both species.

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Acknowledgements

We thank Manuel Cariano and Leonor Campos for insect rearing and laboratory assistance. We also acknowledge the comments and suggestions of two anonymous reviewers on an earlier version of the manuscript. This research was supported by the Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia and FEDER (projects POCI/AGR/57580/2004, and PTDC/AGR-AAM/099560/2008; the first author received two research grants, SFRH/BPD/22145/2005, and SFRH/BPD/44923/2008).

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Correspondence to Elsa Borges da Silva.

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da Silva, E.B., Branco, M., Mendel, Z. et al. Mating Behavior and Performance in the Two Cosmopolitan Mealybug Species Planococcus citri and Pseudococcus calceolariae (Hemiptera: Pseudococcidae). J Insect Behav 26, 304–320 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10905-012-9344-6

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