Quantifying movement of Lygus hesperus and its natural enemies using a protein mark-capture technique
USDA-ARS, Arid Land Agricultural Research Center, Maricopa, Arizona, USA
Correspondence: jhagler@wcrl.ars.usda.gov
A series of tests designed to measure the efficacy of a protein mark-capture technique for the western tarnished plant bug, Lygus hesperus were conducted. In laboratory studies, it was determined that L. hesperus and Hippodamia convergens obtain a protein mark within five minutes after contact exposure to protein-marked cotton leaves. In field cage studies, lygus and potential natural enemies readily acquired and retained a protein mark for several weeks after topical or contact exposure to marked cotton plants. A small scale dispersal study was also conducted to determine if the protein marking procedure was effective at marking L. hesperus and H. convergens. Specifically, an 18 X 18-m central point section of a 1.4 acre lesquerella field was sprayed with 68 liters of a 10% chicken egg white solution. Sticky traps were then placed at equidistant locations in the lesquerella field, two adjacent 0.9 acre cotton fields, and a 20 acre guayule field. All the lygus and natural enemies (mostly H. convergens) trapped after 4 and 7 days were analyzed for the presence of the egg white marker using an anti-egg white enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). A total of 1,067 L. hesperus and H. convergens were collected from the sticky traps. The overall ELISA results showed that 17% of the individuals contained detectable concentrations of the marker. Of these, 38% were captured in the marked portion of the lesquerella field and 12% were captured in the unmarked portions of the study site. These studies verified that protein marking is a powerful method for studying various aspects of lygus and natural enemy dispersal behavior. This technique will be used in the future to quantify the dispersal characteristics of L. hesperus and its natural enemies.
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