Reproductive Biology of Three Cosmopolitan Mealybug (Hemiptera: Pseudococcidae) Species, Pseudococcus longispinus, Pseudococcus viburni, and Planococcus ficus

Abstract

Experiments conÞrmed that female Pseudococcus longispinus (Targioni Tozzetti), Pseudococcus viburni (Signoret), and Planococcus ficus Signoret (Hemiptera: Pseudococcidae) must mate to produce viable offspring. Females of all three species were capable of mating multiple times on the same day and on sequential days (range, 1Ð 8 times). Female reproductive output was not increased by multiple copulations. Male P. longispinus, P. viburni, and P. ficus also mated multiple times during their lifetimes (maximum of 9, 11, and 19 times, respectively). Male P. ficus had the highest mean number of copulations (9.6 Ϯ 0.6), followed by P. longispinus and P. viburni. More than half of the P. ficus males survived their Þrst day of copulations and remated the next day when presented with unmated females. P. viburni males also readily mated with unmated females on the day subsequent to their Þrst copulations. Median times between copulations were short for males of all species (Ͻ2 min). Constant exposure to pheromone had no detectable effect on the activity levels of male P. ficus and P. longispinus, whereas P. viburni males exposed to pheromone emerged signiÞcantly earlier from their cocoons than control males without pheromone exposure. Constant exposure to pheromone had no effect on the longevity of males of any species compared with controls. The implications of the results of these experiments for pheromone-based methods of managing mealybugs are discussed.

Pheromone-Based Monitoring of <I>Pseudococcus maritimus</I> (Hemiptera: Pseudococcidae) Populations in Concord Grape Vineyards

“…Once these females were mated, there might be less competition from them, resulting in an increase in trap captures. However, Waterworth et al (2011b) showed that mated Ps. viburni and Ps.…”

Probable Site of Sex Pheromone Emission in Female Vine and Obscure Mealybugs (Hemiptera: Pseudococcidae)

“…Fresh squash segments were modified into arenas by implanting the severed top 1 cm of a 1 ml centrifuge tube into the pericarp of the squash (see methods in Waterworth et al 2011). For both species, a sexually mature female mealybug was placed inside this arena, and the circular opening was sealed with a glass slide to prevent her escape.…”

“…Females were not preselected for attractiveness as above, because virgin females were almost always attractive to males when the sexes were first placed together (Waterworth et al 2011). Under this assumption, males that had not been exposed previously to odors from females were randomly selected for use in bioassays of body parts and extracts.…”

Molecular Evidence of Polyandry in the Citrus Mealybug, Planococcus citri (Hemiptera: Pseudococcidae)

“…The males of mealybugs are polygynic, being capable of fertilizing multiple females during their short lifespan ( [10,11]; Silva et al, unpublished data). Almost no information is available on the literature on the mating system of mealybug females, although they are presumed to be monandrous.…”

“…Almost no information is available on the literature on the mating system of mealybug females, although they are presumed to be monandrous. However, recent behavioral experiments showed that virgin mealybug females of Pseudococcus longispinus (Targioni-Tozzetti), Pseudococcus viburni (Signoret), Pseudococcus maritimus (Ehrhorn), Planococcus ficus (Signoret) [11,12], Pseudococcus calceolariae (Maskell), and Planococcus citri (Risso) ( [13]; Silva et al, unpublished data) remain receptive several days after the first mating and eventually can mate multiple times with the same or different males, suggesting the existence of polyandry in these insects. Nevertheless, the involvement of more than one male in the fertilization of the eggs oviposited by multiply-mated mealybug females was not demonstrated in those studies.…”