Sexual communication and related behaviours in Tephritidae: current knowledge and potential applications for Integrated Pest Management

Benelli, Giovanni; Daane, Kent M.; Canale, Angelo; Niu, Changying; Messing, Russell H.; Vargas, Roger I.

doi:10.1007/s10340-014-0577-3

Cited by 130 publications

(148 citation statements)

References 225 publications

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“…A preferable method is the random-selection procedure, in which focal individuals are randomly allocated to experimental groups and pitted against either a much stronger or weaker opponent, to deliver the winning or loser experience 4 . Unfortunately, the latter method is not applicable to the majority of tephritid flies, since true predictors 31,36,37,66 of fighting outcomes are not available for these insects 45,46 , with the exception of oriental fruit fly females 67 and males of a gall-forming fly, Procecidochares sp. 68 .…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…We propose a new model system, the olive fruit fly, Bactrocera oleae (Rossi) (Diptera: Tephritidae). B. oleae is a worldwide olive fruit pest of great economic importance 45,46 . Aggressive behaviour is important in this species.…”

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confidence: 99%

“…Within a swarm, each male fights to defend a small territory (an olive leaf) where they court and mate female flies 21,46 . Olive fruit fly females also display agonistic behaviour to maintain single oviposition sites and reduce larval competition for food 21,45 . B. oleae aggressive behaviour is highly ritualized, composed of a number of distinct behavioural acts including synchronous wing waving, fast running towards the opponent, pouncing, and boxing with forelegs 21,45 .…”

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confidence: 99%

“…Olive fruit fly females also display agonistic behaviour to maintain single oviposition sites and reduce larval competition for food 21,45 . B. oleae aggressive behaviour is highly ritualized, composed of a number of distinct behavioural acts including synchronous wing waving, fast running towards the opponent, pouncing, and boxing with forelegs 21,45 . Resident flies win more contests than intruders 21 , where a win is defined as retention of the favoured location, while a loss is the departure from that location.…”

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confidence: 99%

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Contest experience enhances aggressive behaviour in a fly: when losers learn to win

Benelli

Desneux

Romano

et al. 2015

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In several animal species, aggressive experience influences the characteristics and outcomes of subsequent conflicts, such that winners are more likely to win again (the winner effect) and losers more likely to lose again (the loser effect). We tested the olive fruit fly, Bactrocera oleae (Diptera: Tephritidae), as a model system to evaluate the role of the winner and loser effects in male-male territorial contests. Further, we conducted experiments to test if winning and losing probabilities are affected only by the outcome of the previous contests, or whether the fighting experience itself is sufficient to induce an effect. Both winners and losers of two consecutive encounters displayed higher intensity of aggression and fought longer in subsequent contests. In both cases, they achieved higher fighting success than naïve males. The enhanced fighting performance of both winners and losers was stimulated by merely experiencing a contest, not necessarily by the relative outcome of previous fights. Overall, this study highlights the fact that previous victories and defeats both enhance aggressive behaviour in olive fruit flies, allowing them to achieve higher fighting success in subsequent contests against inexperienced males.A ggressive behaviour is widespread throughout the animal kingdom 1,2 . Aggression is a highly flexible behaviour affected by a large number of factors, and is important to ensure survival and reproduction in many species 3 . The evolution of aggression is shaped by a trade-off between the resultant benefits (i.e., securing limited resources) vs. costs (i.e., risk of injury; loss of time and energy), optimising fitness outcomes 4,5 . Aggressive behaviour can be severe between individuals of the same species, as they compete for the same food, territory, and access to mates 6 . Game theory predicts that Evolutionarily Stable Strategies for conflicts between conspecifics may involve stereotyped contests characterized by the ritualised exchange of agonistic signals 7 , which are thought to convey increasingly accurate information for assessing the contenders' chances of winning [8][9][10][11] . Probability of winning can depend on physical disparities (e.g. size, strength, weaponry) 12-15 as well as on aggressive motivation 16 . The latter is a product of several factors, including the presence of resources 17-21 , social upbringing 22 , physical exertion 23 and experience in previous fights [24][25][26] . Learning in the context of aggressive behaviour is widely recognised in animals 4,27,28 , and it has been shown that previous contest experience affects the characteristics and outcomes of contests in many species 4,26 . It is generally acknowledged that behavioural changes during combat that relate to prior experience fall into two general categories. Losing experiences tend to decrease willingness to engage in a contest (i.e. the loser effect), while winning experiences tend to increase willingness to escalate a contest (i.e. the winner effect) 4 . In other words, individuals experiencing a ...

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Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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confidence: 99%

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confidence: 99%

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confidence: 99%

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Contest experience enhances aggressive behaviour in a fly: when losers learn to win

Benelli

Desneux

Romano

et al. 2015

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“…Fourth, the Blure and kill^approach, already used with success against a number of arthropod pests (Benelli et al 2014), has been recently revisited to apply also in the fight against mosquito vectors (Diabate and Tripet 2015), with special reference to the genus Anopheles. Indeed, for anophelines, visual stimuli are probably the most important used to converge in a swarming site (Charlwood et al 2002;Diabate et al 2011; see also Dabiré et al 2014).…”

Section: Behaviour-based Control Toolsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Declining malaria, rising of dengue and Zika virus: insights for mosquito vector control

2016

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The fight against mosquito-borne diseases is a challenge of huge public health importance. To our mind, 2015 was an extraordinary year for malaria control, due to three hot news: the Nobel Prize to Youyou Tu for the discovery of artemisinin, the development of the first vaccine against Plasmodium falciparum malaria [i.e. RTS,S/AS01 (RTS,S)], and the fall of malaria infection rates worldwide, with special reference to sub-Saharan Africa. However, there are major challenges that still deserve attention, in order to boost malaria prevention and control. Indeed, parasite strains resistant to artemisinin have been detected, and RTS,S vaccine does not offer protection against Plasmodium vivax malaria, which predominates in many countries outside of Africa. Furthermore, the recent outbreaks of Zika virus infections, occurring in South America, Central America and the Caribbean, represent the most recent of four arrivals of important arboviruses in the Western Hemisphere, over the last 20 years. Zika virus follows dengue (which slyly arrived in the hemisphere over decades and became more aggressive in the 1990s), West Nile virus (emerged in 1999) and chikungunya (emerged in 2013). Notably, there are no specific treatments for these arboviruses. The emerging scenario highlights that the effective and ecofriendly control of mosquito vectors, with special reference to highly invasive species such as Aedes aegypti and Aedes albopictus, is crucial. The concrete potential of screening plant species as sources of metabolites for parasitological purposes is worthy of attention, as elucidated by the Y. Tu's example. Notably, plant-borne molecules are often effective at few parts per million against Aedes, Ochlerotatus, Anopheles and Culex young instars, can be used for the rapid synthesis of mosquitocidal nanoformulations and even employed to prepare cheap repellents with low human toxicity. In addition, behaviour-based control tools relying to the employ of sound traps and the manipulation of swarming behaviour (i.e. Blure and kill^approach) are discussed. The importance of further research on the chemical cues routing mosquito swarming and mating dynamics is highlighted. Besides radiation, transgenic and symbiont-based mosquito control approaches, an effective option may be the employ of biological control agents of mosquito young instars, in the presence of ultra-low quantities of nanoformulated botanicals, which boost their predation rates.

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Should I fight or should I flight? How studying insect aggression can help integrated pest management

Benelli

2015

Pest Management Science

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Aggression plays a key role all across the animal kingdom, as it allows the acquisition and/or defence of limited resources (food, mates and territories) in a huge number of species. A large part of our knowledge on aggressive behaviour has been developed on insects of economic importance. How can this knowledge be exploited to enhance integrated pest management? Here, I highlight how knowledge on intraspecific aggression can help IPM both in terms of insect pests (with a focus on the enhancement of the sterile insect technique) and in terms of biological control agents (with a focus on mass-rearing optimisation). Then, I examine what implications for IPM can be outlined from knowledge about interspecific aggressive behaviour. Besides predator-pest aggressive interactions predicted by classic biological control, I focus on what IPM can learn from (i) interspecific aggression among pest species (with special reference to competitive displacement), (ii) defensive behaviour exhibited by prey against predaceous insects and (iii) conflicts among predaceous arthropods sharing the same trophic niche (with special reference to learning/sensitisation practices and artificial manipulation of chemically mediated interactions).

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Sexual communication and related behaviours in Tephritidae: current knowledge and potential applications for Integrated Pest Management

Cited by 130 publications

References 225 publications

Contest experience enhances aggressive behaviour in a fly: when losers learn to win

Contest experience enhances aggressive behaviour in a fly: when losers learn to win

Declining malaria, rising of dengue and Zika virus: insights for mosquito vector control

Should I fight or should I flight? How studying insect aggression can help integrated pest management

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