Violet light is the most effective wavelength for recruiting the predatory bug Nesidiocoris tenuis

BioControl volume 64, pages139–147(2019)Cite this article

Abstract

Nesidiocoris tenuis (Heteroptera: Miridae) is a zoophytophagous mirid bug that is used as a biological control agent for agricultural pests including whiteflies. N. tenuis is mass-reared commercially and can be easily bred on banker plants. However, there are still difficulties in establishing populations on crops. Light illumination is a promising candidate for recruiting N. tenuis to crop plants. In this study, we investigated whether N. tenuis has a particular spectral preference using a six-arm arena equipped with six monochromatic LED lights: UV (365 nm), violet (405 nm), blue (450 nm), green (525 nm), orange (590 nm), and red (660 nm). Adult bugs were introduced into the arena, and phototactic behavior was observed. A greater number of male bugs chose violet light, whereas female bugs chose violet and UV light equally. We next examined the effects of violet illumination in a tomato greenhouse. In conventional plots, bugs remained near banker plants, whereas in illuminated plots, bugs immediately dispersed from the plants and became uniformly distributed in the greenhouse. Based on these results, we conclude that violet is a promising wavelength for the recruitment and establishment of N. tenuis on crop plants.

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported by the Cabinet Office, Government of Japan, Cross-ministerial Strategic Innovation Promotion Program (SIP), “Technologies for creating next-generation agriculture, forestry and fisheries” (Funding agency: Bio-oriented Technology Research Advancement Institution, NARO) and JSPS KAKENHI Grant Nos. 25660268 and 16K14868 for MS.

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Author notes

  1. Takuya Uehara and Takumi Ogino contributed equally to this work.

Affiliations

  1. Institute of Agrobiological Sciences, NARO, Ohwashi 1-2, Tsukuba, Ibaraki, 305-8634, Japan

    Takuya Uehara, Takumi Ogino, Terumi Yamaguchi & Masami Shimoda

  2. Graduate School of Life and Environmental Sciences, University of Tsukuba, Tennodai 1-1-1, Tsukuba, Ibaraki, 305-8572, Japan

    Takumi Ogino & Yooichi Kainoh

  3. Japan Society for the Promotion of Science, Chiyoda, Tokyo, Japan

    Takumi Ogino

  4. Tokushima Agriculture Forestry and Fisheries Technology Support Centre, Ishii-cho, Myozai-gun, Tokushima, 779-3233, Japan

    Akio Nakano

  5. Agri-Soken Inc, Numata 2629-1, Inashiki, Ibaraki, 300-0506, Japan

    Toshiyuki Tezuka

Authors
  1. Takuya Uehara
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  2. Takumi Ogino
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  3. Akio Nakano
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  4. Toshiyuki Tezuka
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  5. Terumi Yamaguchi
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  6. Yooichi Kainoh
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  7. Masami Shimoda
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Correspondence to Masami Shimoda.

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Uehara, T., Ogino, T., Nakano, A. et al. Violet light is the most effective wavelength for recruiting the predatory bug Nesidiocoris tenuis. BioControl 64, 139–147 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10526-019-09926-4

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Keywords

  • Phototaxis
  • Behavioral manipulation
  • IPM
  • Optical manipulation
  • Wavelength preference