Diversity and composition of flower-visiting insects and related factors in three fruit tree species.

Animal-mediated pollination is an essential ecosystem service for the production of many fruit trees. To reveal the community composition of flower-visiting wild insects which potentially contribute to fruit production and to examine the effects of geographic location, local meteorological conditions and locally introduced domesticated pollinators on them, we investigated the community composition of insects visiting the flowers (hereafter, "visitors") of apple, Japanese pear and Oriental persimmon for 1‒3 years at 20 sites around Japan. While most of the variation (82%) of the community composition was explained by tree species with a slight contribution by geographic distance (2%), maximum temperature and tree species contributed 62% and 41% of the variation in total abundance of the visitors, respectively. Though the dominant families of the visitors varied spatiotemporally, the community composition of the visitors of apple and Japanese pear clearly differed from that of Oriental persimmon. While Andrenidae and Syrphidae together accounted for 46%‒64% of the visitors of apple and Japanese pear, Apidae represented 57% of the visitors of Oriental persimmon. The taxonomic richness, diversity and evenness of the visitors were best predicted by locally introduced domesticated pollinators and local meteorological conditions of wind speed and maximum temperature. Amongst these selected factors, locally introduced domesticated pollinators could have the largest impact. It seemed to be strongly related to the reduction of taxonomic richness, diversity and evenness of the visitors, accounting for 41‒89% of the variation. Results suggested that the community composition and total abundance of potential pollinators were predominantly determined by tree species and temperature, but locally introduced domesticated pollinators could have a determinantal pressure on the taxonomic diversity of the community.

Molecular monitoring of Neoseiulus californicus released from sheltered slow-release sachets for spider mite control in a Japanese pear greenhouse.

A novel system for spider mite control was developed with a slow-release sachet containing Neoseiulus californicus (McGregor) (Acari: Phytoseiidae) protected by a waterproof shelter. Monitoring the efficacy of the predator release system for spider mite control at a Japanese pear greenhouse requires discrimination of N. californicus from other indigenous phytoseiid mite species inhabiting the study site and subsequent identification of the released N. californicus. The report of our earlier study described a PCR-based method for discrimination of N. californicus species. For the present study, we first examined phytoseiid mite species composition in the greenhouse. Subsequently, we developed microsatellite markers to identify the released N. californicus. Finally, we installed the predator release system in the greenhouse and conducted a population survey of phytoseiid and spider mites. Results demonstrated that approximately 1 month is necessary for distribution of the released N. californicus on the leaves.

High duty cycle pulses suppress orientation flights of crambid moths.

Bat-and-moth is a good model system for understanding predator-prey interactions resulting from interspecific coevolution. Night-flying insects have been under predation pressure from echolocating bats for 65Myr, pressuring vulnerable moths to evolve ultrasound detection and evasive maneuvers as counter tactics. Past studies of defensive behaviors against attacking bats have been biased toward noctuoid moth responses to short duration pulses of low-duty-cycle (LDC) bat calls. Depending on the region, however, moths have been exposed to predation pressure from high-duty-cycle (HDC) bats as well. Here, we reveal that long duration pulse of the sympatric HDC bat (e.g., greater horseshoe bat) is easily detected by the auditory nerve of Japanese crambid moths (yellow peach moth and Asian corn borer) and suppress both mate-finding flights of virgin males and host-finding flights of mated females. The hearing sensitivities for the duration of pulse stimuli significantly dropped non-linearly in both the two moth species as the pulse duration shortened. These hearing properties support the energy integrator model; however, the threshold reduction per doubling the duration has slightly larger than those of other moth species hitherto reported. And also, Asian corn borer showed a lower auditory sensitivity and a lower flight suppression to short duration pulse than yellow peach moth did. Therefore, flight disruption of moth might be more frequently achieved by the pulse structure of HDC calls. The combination of long pulses and inter-pulse intervals, which moths can readily continue detecting, will be useful for repelling moth pests.

Sticky Traps Baited with Synthetic Aggregation Pheromone Predict Fruit Orchard Infestations of Plautia stali (Hemiptera: Pentatomidae).

The brown-winged green bug, Plautia stali Scott, mainly reproduces on Japanese cedar or cypress cones in Japanese plantation forests during summer and autumn. It often depletes its food sources in forest habitats and moves to cultivated crops in large numbers. To establish an easy method for assessing the risk of fruit orchard infestation by P. stali, we conducted a 3-yr field survey that monitored the attraction of bugs to the synthetic P. stali aggregation pheromone using a sticky trap. We used a morphological indicator, variable body size depending on food intake, to estimate the nutritional status in nymphs, which showed that nymphs attracted to the synthetic pheromone were starving. Comparisons between increasing changes in the number of stylet sheaths left on the cones by P. stali and the number of trapped nymphs show that monitoring nymphs with the pheromone-baited sticky trap is useful for inferring conditions regarding food resources in forest habitats. The trend toward trapping second instars can provide a timely overview of resource competition for cones. Trapping middle-to-late (third-fifth) instars is a warning that the cones are finally depleted and that there is a high probability that adults will leave the forests and invade the orchards. In addition, trends in trapping adults suggest that there is a potential risk of orchard infestation by the pest and predict the intensity and period of the invasion. The pheromone-baited sticky trap is an easy but useful survey tool for predicting P. stali orchard infestations.

Double meaning of courtship song in a moth.

Males use courtship signals to inform a conspecific female of their presence and/or quality, or, alternatively, to 'cheat' females by imitating the cues of a prey or predator. These signals have the single function of advertising for mating. Here, we show the dual functions of the courtship song in the yellow peach moth, Conogethes punctiferalis, whose males generate a series of short pulses and a subsequent long pulse in a song bout. Repulsive short pulses mimic the echolocation calls of sympatric horseshoe bats and disrupt the approach of male rivals to a female. The attractive long pulse does not mimic bat calls and specifically induces mate acceptance in the female, who raises her wings to facilitate copulation. These results demonstrate that moths can evolve both attractive acoustic signals and repulsive ones from cues that were originally used to identify predators and non-predators, because the bat-like sounds disrupt rivals, and also support a hypothesis of signal evolution via receiver bias in moth acoustic communication that was driven by the initial evolution of hearing to perceive echolocating bat predators.

Evidence for reversible change in intensity of prolonged diapause in the chestnut weevil Curculio sikkimensis.

The chestnut weevil Curculio sikkimensis undergoes a prolonged larval diapause that is completed by repeated exposure to chilling and warming. We examined the possible reversibility of diapause intensity in response to temperature changes. All larvae were subjected to an initial chilling followed by incubation at 20°C to force pupation of the 1-year-type larvae that require only one winter for diapause completion. We then exposed the larvae remaining in prolonged diapause to a second chilling at 5°C for different lengths of time, preceded or not preceded by incubation at 20°C (moderately high) and/or 25°C (high) and followed by a final post-chilling reincubation at 20°C. Many of the prolonged-diapausing larvae subjected only to a brief second chilling were re-activated upon reincubation. However, short exposure to 25°C before this second chilling dramatically decreased the percentage of larvae completing diapause. When larvae were exposed to 25°C for a short period, then incubated at 20°C and subjected to the brief second chilling, many were re-activated during reincubation. The chilling time required for most of the larvae to complete diapause decreased after pre-chilling incubation at 20°C and increased after incubation at 25°C. These results demonstrate that diapause intensity in C. sikkimensis changes reversibly in response to changes in ambient temperature.

Thermal response and reversibility of prolonged larval diapause in the chestnut weevil, Curculio sikkimensis.

Curculio sikkimensis undergoes prolonged larval diapause that is terminated by chilling and warming cycles. To examine the effects of warming temperatures and their duration on diapause termination, we exposed diapause larvae that had not been reactivated after chilling at 5 degrees C to 20 or 25 degrees C and chilled them again before incubation at 20 degrees C. With increasing warming duration at 20 degrees C, diapause termination after chilling increased and shorter chilling durations became effective. In contrast, few or no larvae warmed at 25 degrees C terminated diapause after chilling, irrespective of the warming duration. To investigate the effect of warming temperature on diapause intensity, larvae with diapause weakened by initial incubation at 20 degrees C after the first chilling were subsequently incubated at 15, 20, or 25 degrees C, then chilled at 5 degrees C before incubation at 20 degrees C. Diapause termination increased significantly after the larvae were treated at 15 or 20 degrees C but decreased significantly after they were treated at 25 degrees C. The intensification of prolonged diapause at 25 degrees C was reversed when the larvae were transferred to 20 degrees C. Diapause intensity in C. sikkimensis therefore decreases at 20 degrees C, increases at 25 degrees C, and can be reversed by alternately exposing diapause larvae to 20 and 25 degrees C. In C. sikkimensis, prolonged diapause does not always proceed in one direction, and its intensity fluctuates in response to ambient temperature conditions.