Entomologia Experimentalis et Applicata (2013) 149, 27-35

Christelle Guédot, David R. Horton, Peter J. Landolt and Joseph E. Munyaneza (2013)
Effect of mating on sex attraction in Bactericera cockerelli with evidence of refractoriness
Entomologia Experimentalis et Applicata 149 (1), 27-35
Abstract: We investigated the effect of mating on female attractiveness and male responsiveness in the potato psyllid, Bactericera (= Paratrioza) cockerelli (Šulc) (Hemiptera: Triozidae), a major pest of potato. Assays were designed to examine response by mated or virgin males to volatile odors produced by virgin or mated females. Mating induced a behavioral refractory period during which males were not attracted to females. The refractory period was shown to include a mating-induced lowering of male response to females, as well as a mating-induced lowering of female attractiveness. The refractory period was longer in females (at least 48 h) than in males (less than 24 h). Following a post-copulatory refractory period of 96 h, females were as attractive to males as virgin females. We also explored how rapidly spermatophores became depleted in females as a function of the amount of time following mating. The percent of females carrying spermatophores and the number of spermatophores per female decreased with the length of the female post-mating period, possibly due to the absorption by females of the spermatophores and their content. By 96 h following mating, spermatophores were not visible in the majority of females, thus the absence of spermatophores in females of this species should not be used as evidence of mating status.
(The abstract is excluded from the Creative Commons licence and has been copied with permission by the publisher.)
Link to article at publishers website
Database assignments for author(s): Christelle Guédot, David R. Horton, Peter J. Landolt

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

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Pest and/or beneficial records:

Beneficial	Pest/Disease/Weed	Crop/Product	Country	Quarant.
	Bactericera cockerelli