Entomologia Experimentalis et Applicata (2014) 152, 148-156

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Kai Zhang, Ning Di, James Ridsdill-Smith, Bo-Wen Zhang, Xiao-Ling Tan, He-He Cao, Yan-Hong Liu and Tong-Xian Liu (2014)
Does a multi-plant diet benefit a polyphagous herbivore? A case study with Bemisia tabaci
Entomologia Experimentalis et Applicata 152 (2), 148-156
Abstract: Bemisia tabaci (Gennadius) (Hemiptera: Aleyrodidae) is a highly polyphagous herbivore. This research was conducted to compare the development of B. tabaci reared in a multi-plant treatment (polyculture) with those in single-plant treatments (monocultures). Adult B. tabaci females fed on a mixture of tomato, cabbage, cotton, cucumber, and kidney bean survived longer and laid more eggs than those fed exclusively on one of these plant species. Egg numbers per plant laid in the polyculture treatment were positively correlated with those laid on the same plant species in the monoculture treatments, and egg numbers per plant laid on tomato, cotton, and cucumber in the polyculture were significantly higher than those laid on the same plants in the monocultures. Concentrations of total protein and trehalose in B. tabaci were not significantly different after 7 days of feeding in the respective treatments, but activities of superoxide dismutases (SOD) and alkaline phosphatase (AKP) of B. tabaci in polyculture were lower than those in monoculture. Conversely, activities of trehalase, sucrase, and amylase in B. tabaci kept in polyculture were higher than those of insects from the monoculture. In each of the monoculture treatments, there was a negative correlation between AKP in B. tabaci and oviposition, and also between AKP and amylase. SOD and sucrase activities in B. tabaci were positively correlated with polyphenol oxidase (PPO) and peroxidase (POD) activities in plants. In the plants damaged by whiteflies in the polyculture treatment, activities of SOD in cucumber, PPO in cotton and kidney bean, and POD in tomato and cucumber were lower than those in the monoculture treatments, whereas SOD in cabbage and catalase (CAT) in tomato in the polyculture treatment were higher than those in the monoculture treatments.
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Database assignments for author(s): Tong Xian Liu

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	Cabbage (Brassica oleracea)
	Bemisia tabaci	Tomato (Solanum lycopersicum)
	Bemisia tabaci	Beans (Phaseolus)
	Bemisia tabaci	Cotton (Gossypium)
	Bemisia tabaci	Cucumber (Cucumis sativus)