Florida Entomologist (1995) 78, 258-264

Gregg S. Nuessly, Russell T. Nagata, Erik S. Skiles, Jolene R. Christenson and Curtis Elliott (1995)
Techniques for differentially staining Liriomyza trifolii (Diptera: Agromyzidae) eggs and stipples within cos lettuce leaves
Florida Entomologist 78 (2), 258-264
Abstract: Different staining procedures were evaluated for their time requirements and effectiveness to differentially stain Liriomyza trifolii (Burgess) (Diptera: Agromyzidae) eggs and wounds (i.e., stipples) made by the female flies ovipositing within cos lettuce (Lactuca sativa L.) leaves. The best method for staining eggs within leaves was a lactophenol acid fuchsin solution that cleared the leaves of chlorophyll and stained the eggs pink to dark red. Modification of this established procedure reduced the total staining time to 7 min per leaf. Stipples were counterstained blue by immersing the leaves in a lactophenol cotton blue solution for 1 min immediately following the egg staining procedure. Larvae were not stained by either procedure. A new technique was devised for highlighting stipples using solutions of silver nitrate, sodium carbonate, formaldehyde and citric acid. The procedure resulted in blackened stipples that were highly visible against the green leaves and did not kill developing larvae within the leaves. Eggs could later be stained using the lactophenol acid fuchsin technique. Sufficient contrast and color differences were produced by these procedures to successfully quantify stipples, eggs and larvae within stained and counterstained leaves from digitized microscopic video images using computer image analysis software.
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Database assignments for author(s): Russell Nagata

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.
	Liriomyza trifolii	Lettuce (Lactuca)	U.S.A. (SE)