Journal of Insect Behavior (2013) 26, 304-320

Elsa Borges da Silva, Manuela Branco, Zvi Mendel and José Carlos Franco (2013)
Mating behavior and performance in the two cosmopolitan mealybug species Planococcus citri and Pseudococcus calceolariae (Hemiptera: Pseudococcidae)
Journal of Insect Behavior 26 (3), 304-320
Abstract: Mating strategies of mealybugs were investigated using two heterogeneric cosmopolitan species as case study: Planococcus citri (Risso) and Pseudococcus calceolariae (Maskell). Male mating behavior of the studied species differed in respect to mate selection, and frequency and duration of copulation. Females played an active role in mate selection, by either facilitating or resisting copulation. This is a first evidence of female sexual active behavior in scale insects. In both species, male predisposition to mate was affected by previous exposition to light. The frequency of courtship and copulation decreased with the age of females for Pl. citri but not for Ps. calceolariae. Mating frequency increased with female colony density in both species.
(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): Elsa Borges da Silva, José Carlos Franco, Manuela R. Branco, Zvi Mendel

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.
	Planococcus citri
	Pseudococcus calceolariae