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Effect of Substrate Type and Moisture on Pupation and Emergence of Heortia vitessoides (Lepidoptera: Crambidae): Choice and No-Choice Studies

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Abstract

Heortia vitessoides Moore is the most destructive defoliator of Aquilaria sinensis (Loureiro) Sprenger, an endangered and economically important plant that produces the high-prized agarwood. After maturing, H. vitessoides larvae will leave the A. sinensis and pupate in soil, however, factors affecting this behavior have not been previously addressed. In the present study, choice and no-choice tests were conducted to study the effects of substrate type (sand, sandy loam A, sandy loam B, and silt loam) and moisture condition (0 %, 20 %, 40 %, 60 %, 80 %, and 100 % water saturation) on burrowing, pupation and emergence behaviors of H. vitessoides under laboratory conditions. Six-choice tests showed that significantly fewer larvae burrowed and pupated in each substrate under extremely dry (0 % saturation) or wet (80 % and 100 % saturation) conditions. Four-choice tests showed that at 20 % saturation a significantly lower percentage of larvae burrowed and pupated in silt loam as compared to other substrates, whereas at 40 % saturation sand was least preferred. At 60 % saturation, however, there was no significant difference in burrowing and pupation among the four substrates. No-choice test showed that either or both 0 % and 80 % water saturation suppressed burrowing behavior and emergence success compared with the intermediate saturation levels in sandy loam (A and B) and silt loam, but not in sand. In addition, the effect of substrate type varied with saturation level. Our study enhance the understanding of pupation ecology of H. vitessoides, and applied implications are discussed.

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Acknowledgments

We sincerely thank Zhitao Liu, Yuanyuan Zhang and Qingxue Zhang (Department of Forestry, South China Agricultural University) for valuable help in collecting and rearing H. vitessoides larvae. We also thank Jie Gao, Xiaosa Huang and Junxi Dong (Department of Forestry, South China Agricultural University) for kindly help to analyze soil samples. Rachel Strecker (Department of Entomology, Louisiana State University) and two anonymous reviewers helped to improve the manuscript, which is much appreciated. This work was funded by the Guangdong Natural Science Foundation (Grant No. 2016A030310445), the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 31270692), and the Young Investigator Research Grant of College of Forestry and Landscape Architecture, South China Agricultural University.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Guangdong Key Laboratory for Innovation Development and Utilization of Forest Plant Germplasm, College of Forestry and Landscape Architecture, South China Agricultural University, Guangzhou, 510642, China

    Yuzhen Wen, Xiufang Jin, Chengqi Zhu, Tao Ma, Shengnan Zhang, Yu Zhang, Shucai Zeng, Xiaoyang Chen, Zhaohui Sun, Xiujun Wen & Cai Wang

  2. Department of Entomology, Louisiana State University Agricultural Center, Baton Rouge, LA, 70803, USA

    Xuan Chen

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  1. Yuzhen Wen
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  2. Xiufang Jin
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  3. Chengqi Zhu
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  5. Tao Ma
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Correspondence to Xiujun Wen or Cai Wang.

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Electronic Supplementary Material

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Fig. S1: Burrowing rate and pupal survivorship of (mean ± SE) Heortia vitessoides individuals in the six- and four-choice tests. The same capital letters indicate no significant difference in mean burrowing rate, and same lower case letters indicate no significant difference in mean pupal survivorship (P > 0.05). SL = Saturation level. (PPTX 55 kb)

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Wen, Y., Jin, X., Zhu, C. et al. Effect of Substrate Type and Moisture on Pupation and Emergence of Heortia vitessoides (Lepidoptera: Crambidae): Choice and No-Choice Studies. J Insect Behav 29, 473–489 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10905-016-9572-2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10905-016-9572-2

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