{"title":"Lesser mealworm Alphitobius diaperinus (Coleoptera: Tenebrionidae) displays negative phototaxis and conditional hygrotaxis.","authors":"Ben C Sammarco, Michael S Crossley","doi":"10.1093/ee/nvad109","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Arthropods use a variety of environmental cues to navigate between and locate hosts. In agricultural systems, clarifying the relevant cues and their effects on arthropod behavior can inform management practices to reduce or inhibit the activity of arthropod pests. The lesser mealworm Alphitobius diaperinus (Panzer) is a ubiquitous arthropod pest of broiler house chicken production, and while the patterns of movement and behavior of A. diaperinus are well documented, the specific environmental factors that govern these patterns are not known. We conducted behavioral assays testing the response of A. diaperinus adults and larvae to different wavelengths of light and to the presence of water. Alphitobius diaperinus displayed a significant repulsion from white, green, red, and blue light, while larvae consistently sought shelter and displayed no behavioral change in response to light. Dehydrated adult beetles displayed an attraction to water while hydrated beetles displayed a repulsion to water. Regardless of the availability of water, dehydrated beetles displayed a reduced repulsion from light. Taken together, these results indicate that A. diaperinus will hide from sources of light unless they are dehydrated. Knowledge of the environmental cues that influence the behavior of A. diaperinus could be used to improve methods of trapping, monitoring, and controlling populations of A. diaperinus in experimental and commercial settings.</p>","PeriodicalId":11751,"journal":{"name":"Environmental Entomology","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":1.8000,"publicationDate":"2024-02-20","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Environmental Entomology","FirstCategoryId":"97","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.1093/ee/nvad109","RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q2","JCRName":"ENTOMOLOGY","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
Arthropods use a variety of environmental cues to navigate between and locate hosts. In agricultural systems, clarifying the relevant cues and their effects on arthropod behavior can inform management practices to reduce or inhibit the activity of arthropod pests. The lesser mealworm Alphitobius diaperinus (Panzer) is a ubiquitous arthropod pest of broiler house chicken production, and while the patterns of movement and behavior of A. diaperinus are well documented, the specific environmental factors that govern these patterns are not known. We conducted behavioral assays testing the response of A. diaperinus adults and larvae to different wavelengths of light and to the presence of water. Alphitobius diaperinus displayed a significant repulsion from white, green, red, and blue light, while larvae consistently sought shelter and displayed no behavioral change in response to light. Dehydrated adult beetles displayed an attraction to water while hydrated beetles displayed a repulsion to water. Regardless of the availability of water, dehydrated beetles displayed a reduced repulsion from light. Taken together, these results indicate that A. diaperinus will hide from sources of light unless they are dehydrated. Knowledge of the environmental cues that influence the behavior of A. diaperinus could be used to improve methods of trapping, monitoring, and controlling populations of A. diaperinus in experimental and commercial settings.
期刊介绍:
Environmental Entomology is published bimonthly in February, April, June, August, October, and December. The journal publishes reports on the interaction of insects with the biological, chemical, and physical aspects of their environment. In addition to research papers, Environmental Entomology publishes Reviews, interpretive articles in a Forum section, and Letters to the Editor.