Adult Tea Green Leafhoppers, Empoasca onukii (Matsuda), Change Behaviors under Varying Light Conditions

Abstract

Insect behaviors are often influenced by light conditions including photoperiod, light intensity, and wavelength. Understanding pest insect responses to changing light conditions may help with developing alternative strategies for pest control. Little is known about the behavioral responses of leafhoppers (Hemiptera: Cicadellidae) to light conditions. The behavior of the tea green leafhopper, Empoasca onukii Matsuda, was examined when exposed to different light photoperiods or wavelengths. Observations included the frequency of locomotion and cleaning activities, and the duration of time spent searching. The results suggested that under normal photoperiod both female and male adults were generally more active in darkness (i.e., at night) than in light. In continuous darkness (DD), the locomotion and cleaning events in Period 1 (7:00–19:00) were significantly increased, when compared to the leafhoppers under normal photoperiod (LD). Leafhoppers, especially females, changed their behavioral patterns to a two day cycle under DD. Under continuous illumination (continuous quartz lamp light, yellow light at night, and green light at night), the activities of locomotion, cleaning, and searching were significantly suppressed during the night (19:00–7:00) and locomotion activities of both females and males were significantly increased during the day (7:00–19:00), suggesting a shift in circadian rhythm. Our work suggests that changes in light conditions, including photoperiod and wavelength, can influence behavioral activities of leafhoppers, potentially affecting other life history traits such as reproduction and development, and may serve as a method for leafhopper behavioral control.

Are Yellow Sticky Cards and Light Traps Effective on Tea Green Leafhoppers and Their Predators in Chinese Tea Plantations?

“…Lights at night tended to suppress the activities of leafhoppers including moving, cleaning and, most importantly, mating activities, which maybe contributed to a decrease in the population size of E. onukii in tea plantations [ 42 ]. Previous studies have reported that under controlled conditions, light can change the behaviors of E. onukii, including its circadian rhythm [ 42 ]. The consequence of this behavioral change may include unsynchronized mating activities between males and females.…”

Mechanistic, ecological, and evolutionary consequences of artificial light at night for insects: review and prospective

“…In 1972, the mosquito Anopheles gambiae Giles was found to exhibit a burst of flight activity upon exposure to artificial light (even at low intensities of 0.3 lux) instead of the flight inhibition expected in nocturnal species (Jones et al., ). In contrast, light at night (especially green wavelengths) suppresses locomotor and cleaning activity in the tea green leafhopper, Empoasca onukii Matsuda (Shi et al., ). These modifications of locomotor activity may be associated with alterations of feeding behavior.…”

Behavioral responses to visual overstimulation in the cockroach Periplaneta americana L.

“…The escape reaction in response to illumination that exceeds a certain intensity threshold can be a manifestation of stress in an animal, which is suddenly exposed to dramatic sensory overstimulation. However, despite extensive observations of behaviors associated with overstimulation of the visual system in P. americana and similar nocturnal insect species (Godden and Goldsmith 1972;Shi et al 2017;Shimoda and Honda 2013), questions remain about relative contributions of different visual channels to visual overstimulation-induced reactions, and to specific behavioral reactions associated with stress. Grooming, a complex, often stereotypic process of cleaning body surfaces and sensory appendages, which has been extensively studied in both vertebrates and insects (for review see (Hlavac 1975;Smith and Valentine 1985)), is one such behavior that changes in stressed animals (Kalueff et al 2016;Tinbergen 1951;Zhukovskaya et al 2013).…”