Female mate preference in an invasive phytopathogen vector: how learning may influence mate choice and fecundity in Diaphorina citri

Abstract

In some arthropods, females learn in the context of reproduction to refine their mate choices and avoid males displaying traits associated with impotency. Previous studies have shown that males of the Asian citrus psyllid, Diaphorina citriKuwayama (Hemiptera: Psyllidae), associate female odor with copulatory rewards. However, it is unclear whether females similarly learn about male traits. We compared mate choice in females previously mated to either blue or orange males and found that females may associate male color with reproductive success, and avoided blue males after previous experience. Orange males mated more frequently than blue males and appeared to be more sexually aggressive in their mating attempts. In addition, females mated to orange males laid approximately twice as many eggs as those mated to blue males. We dissected male psyllids and measured the size of their reproductive organs to determine whether abdominal color was associated with reproductive development. Our morphometric analysis indicated that blue males may not be physiologically immature compared with orange males. Rather, blue males displayed larger testes and seminal vesicles than orange males, suggesting that differences in reproductive output may be behavioral in nature. Based on our data, we suggest that females learn about the appearance and mating behaviors of blue and orange males from early mating experiences, and subsequently avoid blue males in future matings. Although the roles of blue males within a population are unclear, it is possible that blue morphs may specialize in other functions such as dispersal.

Ecological Aspects of the Vector-Borne Bacterial Disease, Citrus Greening (Huanglongbing): Dispersal and Host Use by Asian Citrus Psyllid, Diaphorina Citri Kuwayama

“…ACP show a significant amount of behavioral plasticity and learning behavior. Males learn to prefer odor of certain females, following previous experience [42], and similarly females learn to prefer certain male phenotypes that appears to be adaptive [43]. This is consistent with previous studies, which have quantified differences in ACP development and morphological features, depending on the host plant genotype on which they developed [44,45].…”

“…ACP develop preference for the citrus genotypes on which they developed [41]. This can be observed by differences in oviposition preference, following differential host plant experience [41,42,43]. Overall, adult ACP prefer to settle and lay eggs on the host plant genotypes on which they developed and maternal preference might influence offspring fitness [41].…”

Insecticide toxicity associated with detoxification enzymes and genes related to transcription of cuticular melanization among color morphs of Asian citrus psyllid

“…D. citri is a well-studied insect species with respect to its color polymorphisms, and the three distinct abdominal color morphs are orange/yellow, blue/green and gray/brown (Tsai & Liu, 2000;Skelley & Hoy, 2004;Wenninger & Hall, 2008;Wenninger et al, 2009;Martini et al, 2014). The exact cause of color variation among D. citri has been debated (Wenninger et al, 2009); however, it appears related to sexual maturation (Stockton et al, 2017). Color morphs of other species are correlated with the activity of detoxifying enzymes and associated susceptibility to insecticides (Harlow & Lampert, 1990;Kerns et al, 1998;Srigiriraju et al, 2009).…”

Effects of Diaphorina citri Population Density on Daily Timing of Vibrational Communication Calls: Potential Benefits in Finding Forage

“…In previous reports where females and males at sampling sites have been counted, a slight preponderance of females has been found [42][43][44], which suggests that males would benefit by using calling behavior for either mate seeking or foraging. It is thus not surprising that mate-seeking calling behavior might evolve new roles or that individual D. citri in the presence of small numbers of conspecifics might behaviorally adapt through associative learning to call for help in locating preferred foraging sites [45][46][47][48]. Alternatively, a conspecific that would benefit from the presence of other conspecifics might call to recruit conspecifics [49].…”