Attractiveness, Responsiveness, Mating, and Flight of Irradiated Tarnished Plant Bug (Heteroptera: Miridae)

Abstract

To further evaluate the tarnished plant bug, Lygus lineolaris (Palisot de Beauvois), as a candidate for sterile insect technique (SIT), adults were treated with doses of 10 or 20 krad gamma-irradiation to determine the effects on flight, mating, attractiveness of females and responsiveness of males. Nearly all irradiated and unirradiated bugs flew from Petri dishes fitted with inverted cones. Male mating success of irradiated insects trended lower than that of unirradiated insects in laboratory tests, but was significantly lower than that of unirradiated insects in field cages. Irradiated males released into field cages were more likely than unirradiated males to be captured in nonsticky traps baited with virgin females. Unirradiated females placed in nonsticky traps deployed in weed fields attracted more native tarnished plant bugs than irradiated females.