Foliage Intensity is an Important Cue of Habitat Location for <i>Empoasca onukii</i>
For many herbivorous insects, vision is more important than olfaction in the prealighting stage of host habitat location. Tea leafhoppers, <i>Empoasca onukii</i> (Hemiptera, Cicadellidae), are serious pests that preferentially inhabit the tender leaves of tea plants across China. Here, w...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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MDPI AG
2020-07-01
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| Series: | Insects |
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| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2075-4450/11/7/426 |
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| author | Lei Bian Xiao Ming Cai Zong Xiu Luo Zhao Qun Li Zong Mao Chen |
| author_facet | Lei Bian Xiao Ming Cai Zong Xiu Luo Zhao Qun Li Zong Mao Chen |
| author_sort | Lei Bian |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | For many herbivorous insects, vision is more important than olfaction in the prealighting stage of host habitat location. Tea leafhoppers, <i>Empoasca onukii</i> (Hemiptera, Cicadellidae), are serious pests that preferentially inhabit the tender leaves of tea plants across China. Here, we investigated whether tea leafhoppers could distinguish foliage colors associated with different leaf ages and use this visual cue to guide suitable habitat location from short distances. Similar to honeybees, the adult <i>E. onukii</i> has an apposition type of compound eye, and each ommatidium has eight retinular cells, in which three spectral types of photoreceptors are distributed, with peak sensitivities at 356 nm (ultraviolet), 435 nm (blue), and 542 nm (green). Both changes in spectral intensity and hue of reflectance light of the host foliage were correlated with varying leaf age, and the intensity linearly decreased with increasing leaf age. Behavioral responses also showed that adult <i>E. onukii</i> could discriminate between the simulated colors of host foliage at different leaf ages without olfactory stimuli and selected the bright colors that strongly corresponded to those of tender leaves. The results suggest that, compared with the spectral composition (hue), the intensity of light reflectance from leaves at different ages is more important for adult leafhoppers when discriminating host foliage and could guide them to tender leaves at the top of tea shoots. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-10T18:35:13Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-0ac2d023712940f49c815e496d868a09 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2075-4450 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-10T18:35:13Z |
| publishDate | 2020-07-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Insects |
| spelling | doaj.art-0ac2d023712940f49c815e496d868a092023-11-20T06:17:14ZengMDPI AGInsects2075-44502020-07-0111742610.3390/insects11070426Foliage Intensity is an Important Cue of Habitat Location for <i>Empoasca onukii</i>Lei Bian0Xiao Ming Cai1Zong Xiu Luo2Zhao Qun Li3Zong Mao Chen4Tea Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Science, 9 Meiling South Road, Xihu District, Hangzhou 310008, ChinaTea Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Science, 9 Meiling South Road, Xihu District, Hangzhou 310008, ChinaTea Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Science, 9 Meiling South Road, Xihu District, Hangzhou 310008, ChinaTea Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Science, 9 Meiling South Road, Xihu District, Hangzhou 310008, ChinaTea Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Science, 9 Meiling South Road, Xihu District, Hangzhou 310008, ChinaFor many herbivorous insects, vision is more important than olfaction in the prealighting stage of host habitat location. Tea leafhoppers, <i>Empoasca onukii</i> (Hemiptera, Cicadellidae), are serious pests that preferentially inhabit the tender leaves of tea plants across China. Here, we investigated whether tea leafhoppers could distinguish foliage colors associated with different leaf ages and use this visual cue to guide suitable habitat location from short distances. Similar to honeybees, the adult <i>E. onukii</i> has an apposition type of compound eye, and each ommatidium has eight retinular cells, in which three spectral types of photoreceptors are distributed, with peak sensitivities at 356 nm (ultraviolet), 435 nm (blue), and 542 nm (green). Both changes in spectral intensity and hue of reflectance light of the host foliage were correlated with varying leaf age, and the intensity linearly decreased with increasing leaf age. Behavioral responses also showed that adult <i>E. onukii</i> could discriminate between the simulated colors of host foliage at different leaf ages without olfactory stimuli and selected the bright colors that strongly corresponded to those of tender leaves. The results suggest that, compared with the spectral composition (hue), the intensity of light reflectance from leaves at different ages is more important for adult leafhoppers when discriminating host foliage and could guide them to tender leaves at the top of tea shoots.https://www.mdpi.com/2075-4450/11/7/426compound eye<i>Empoasca onukii</i>foliage colorhabitat locationintensityvision |
| spellingShingle | Lei Bian Xiao Ming Cai Zong Xiu Luo Zhao Qun Li Zong Mao Chen Foliage Intensity is an Important Cue of Habitat Location for <i>Empoasca onukii</i> Insects compound eye <i>Empoasca onukii</i> foliage color habitat location intensity vision |
| title | Foliage Intensity is an Important Cue of Habitat Location for <i>Empoasca onukii</i> |
| title_full | Foliage Intensity is an Important Cue of Habitat Location for <i>Empoasca onukii</i> |
| title_fullStr | Foliage Intensity is an Important Cue of Habitat Location for <i>Empoasca onukii</i> |
| title_full_unstemmed | Foliage Intensity is an Important Cue of Habitat Location for <i>Empoasca onukii</i> |
| title_short | Foliage Intensity is an Important Cue of Habitat Location for <i>Empoasca onukii</i> |
| title_sort | foliage intensity is an important cue of habitat location for i empoasca onukii i |
| topic | compound eye <i>Empoasca onukii</i> foliage color habitat location intensity vision |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2075-4450/11/7/426 |
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