Annals of the Entomological Society of America (2006) 99, 598-606

Thomas M. Perring and Emily J. Symmes (2006)
Courtship behavior of Bemisia argentifolii (Hemiptera: Aleyrodidae) and whitefly mate recognition
Annals of the Entomological Society of America 99 (3), 598-606
Abstract: Bemisia tabaci (Gennadius) (Hemiptera: Aleyrodidae) consists of a species complex with various degrees of reproductive compatibility between biotypes. One mechanism known to result in reproductive isolation among sexually reproducing animals is mate recognition. Whiteflies have an elaborate courtship and mating behavior, and it is well known that individuals of some biotypes in the B. tabaci species complex will court individuals of other biotypes, but they will not mate. In this study, we determined specific courtship and mating behaviors of B. tabaci biotype B (Bemisia argentifolii Bellows and Perring). Four distinct phases in the courtship and mating cascade were identified, and we describe these phases and report their durations. We compared our findings with previously reported mating behaviors of two other whiteflies, B. tabaci biotype A, and Trialeurodes vaporariorum (Westwood). These comparisons identified both similarities and differences in the behaviors of the three whiteflies, particularly in the extent and position of antennal drumming, male abdominal undulation, and wing and body position during copulation. Body pushing behavior, characterized for B. tabaci biotype A and T. vaporariorum, was not present for B. argentifolii. The similarities between whiteflies may represent evolutionarily conserved behaviors, resulting in courtships between reproductively incompatible whiteflies. Conversely, differences in behaviors may contribute to prezygotic reproductive isolation among biotypes. From our studies, we propose that the discrimination of signals sent and received from courting whiteflies becomes more intense with each successive phase in the courtship cascade.
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Database assignments for author(s): Thomas M. Perring

Research topic(s) for pests/diseases/weeds:
general biology - morphology - evolution

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Pest and/or beneficial records:

Beneficial	Pest/Disease/Weed	Crop/Product	Country	Quarant.
	Bemisia tabaci biotype MEAM1