Insects (2014) 5, 921-941

Joseph M. Patt, Dara Stockton, William G. Meikle, Mamoudou Sétamou, Agenor Mafra-Neto and John J. Adamczyk (2014)
Innate and conditioned responses to chemosensory and visual cues in Asian citrus psyllid, Diaphorina citri (Hemiptera: Liviidae), vector of huanglongbing pathogens
Insects 5 (4), 921-941
Abstract: Asian citrus psyllid (Diaphorina citri) transmits Huanglongbing, a devastating disease that threatens citrus trees worldwide. A better understanding of the psyllid's host-plant selection process may lead to the development of more efficient means of monitoring it and predicting its movements. Since behavioral adaptations, such as associative learning, may facilitate recognition of suitable host-plants, we examined whether adult D. citri could be conditioned to visual and chemosensory stimuli from host and non-host-plant sources. Response was measured as the frequency of salivary sheaths, the residue of psyllid probing activity, in a line of emulsified wax on the surface of a test arena. The psyllids displayed both appetitive and aversive conditioning to two different chemosensory stimuli. They could also be conditioned to recognize a blue-colored probing substrate and their response to neutral visual cues was enhanced by chemosensory stimuli. Conditioned psyllids were sensitive to the proportion of chemosensory components present in binary mixtures. Naïve psyllids displayed strong to moderate innate biases to several of the test compounds. While innate responses are probably the psyllid's primary behavioral mechanism for selecting host-plants, conditioning may enhance its ability to select host-plants during seasonal transitions and dispersal.
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Database assignments for author(s): Joseph M. Patt, Mamoudou Sétamou, Agenor Mafra-Neto, William G. Meikle

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

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Pest and/or beneficial records:

Beneficial	Pest/Disease/Weed	Crop/Product	Country	Quarant.
	Diaphorina citri	Citrus (genus)