TY - JOUR
T1 - Flight Dispersal Capabilities of Female Spotted Lanternflies (Lycorma delicatula) Related to Size and Mating Status
AU - Wolfin, Michael S.
AU - Binyameen, Muhammad
AU - Wang, Yanchen
AU - Urban, Julie M.
AU - Roberts, Dana C.
AU - Baker, Thomas Charles
N1 - Funding Information:
We thank the owners of the residence at Site 1, the proprietors of the commercial fruit farm at Site 2, and the commercial amusement park at Site 3 for allowing us to work on their land. We also thank the Lehigh County Penn State Extension Office for allowing us to work in and store our field equipment in their office space. This research was funded on a grant to TCB through a Cooperative Agreement AP18PPQS&T00C198 between USDA-APHIS-PPQ and The Pennsylvania State University. Support for this project was also provided by McIntire-Stennis funds from the Penn State College of Agricultural Sciences to TCB.
Funding Information:
We thank the owners of the residence at Site 1, the proprietors of the commercial fruit farm at Site 2, and the commercial amusement park at Site 3 for allowing us to work on their land. We also thank the Lehigh County Penn State Extension Office for allowing us to work in and store our field equipment in their office space. This research was funded on a grant to TCB through a Cooperative Agreement AP18PPQS&T00C198 between USDA-APHIS-PPQ and The Pennsylvania State University. Support for this project was also provided by McIntire-Stennis funds from the Penn State College of Agricultural Sciences to TCB.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2019, Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature.
PY - 2019/5/1
Y1 - 2019/5/1
N2 - The spotted lanternfly, Lycorma delicatula (White), is an orchard and forest pest native to China. Since its detection in Pennsylvania, USA in 2014, it has spread to other states as well. We conducted experiments to determine the flight capabilities of unmated vs. mated L. delicatula females to assess the relative threat posed by each type with regard to expanding the infestation area through their natural flight behaviors. Females were collected from mating pairs, captured on plants, and netted during flights averaging 24 m, then dissected and examined for male spermatophores, a diagnostic character for determining mating status. The weight, amount of yellow area on the abdomen, wing area, and body length and abdominal width was recorded from these females. Sedentary females on plants were selectively collected for their large and swollen abdomen. They were capable of only flying ~4 m when forcibly launched and were significantly heavier than the in-flight-captured females. More than 93% of these large, sedentary females had mated whereas <5% of the flight-captured females had mated. Spontaneously flying females weighed significantly less, and had significantly smaller and less yellowed abdomens than sedentary plant-captured females. We conclude that nearly all the observed spontaneously flying L. delicatula females were unmated and therefore pose a lower threat to spread the infestation than previously thought. We also hypothesize that these thinner, spontaneously flying females embark on these 10–50-m-long flights because they need to find new trees on which to feed to complete their egg maturation in order to oviposit successfully.
AB - The spotted lanternfly, Lycorma delicatula (White), is an orchard and forest pest native to China. Since its detection in Pennsylvania, USA in 2014, it has spread to other states as well. We conducted experiments to determine the flight capabilities of unmated vs. mated L. delicatula females to assess the relative threat posed by each type with regard to expanding the infestation area through their natural flight behaviors. Females were collected from mating pairs, captured on plants, and netted during flights averaging 24 m, then dissected and examined for male spermatophores, a diagnostic character for determining mating status. The weight, amount of yellow area on the abdomen, wing area, and body length and abdominal width was recorded from these females. Sedentary females on plants were selectively collected for their large and swollen abdomen. They were capable of only flying ~4 m when forcibly launched and were significantly heavier than the in-flight-captured females. More than 93% of these large, sedentary females had mated whereas <5% of the flight-captured females had mated. Spontaneously flying females weighed significantly less, and had significantly smaller and less yellowed abdomens than sedentary plant-captured females. We conclude that nearly all the observed spontaneously flying L. delicatula females were unmated and therefore pose a lower threat to spread the infestation than previously thought. We also hypothesize that these thinner, spontaneously flying females embark on these 10–50-m-long flights because they need to find new trees on which to feed to complete their egg maturation in order to oviposit successfully.
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U2 - 10.1007/s10905-019-09724-x
DO - 10.1007/s10905-019-09724-x
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85073939843
SN - 0892-7553
VL - 32
SP - 188
EP - 200
JO - Journal of Insect Behavior
JF - Journal of Insect Behavior
IS - 3
ER -