A Novel Insect Overwintering Strategy: The Case of Mealybugs
Insects have limited ability to regulate their body temperature and have thus required a range of strategies to withstand thermally stressful environments. Under unfavorable winter conditions, insects often take refuge under the soil surface to survive. Here, the mealybug insect family was selected...
| Main Authors: | , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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MDPI AG
2023-05-01
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| Series: | Insects |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2075-4450/14/5/481 |
| _version_ | 1797599702920724480 |
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| author | Rosa Vercher Sandra González Adrián Sánchez-Domingo Juan Sorribas |
| author_facet | Rosa Vercher Sandra González Adrián Sánchez-Domingo Juan Sorribas |
| author_sort | Rosa Vercher |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Insects have limited ability to regulate their body temperature and have thus required a range of strategies to withstand thermally stressful environments. Under unfavorable winter conditions, insects often take refuge under the soil surface to survive. Here, the mealybug insect family was selected for the study. Field experiments were performed in fruit orchards in eastern Spain. We used specifically designed floor sampling methods combined with fruit tree canopy pheromone traps. We found that in temperate climates, the large majority of the mealybugs move from the tree canopy to the roots during the winter, where they turn into belowground root-feeding herbivores to survive and continue underground the reproductive process. Within the rhizosphere, mealybugs complete at least one generation before emerging on the soil surface. The preferred area to overwinter is within 1 m in diameter around the fruit tree trunk, where more than 12,000 mealybug flying males per square meter can emerge every spring. This overwintering pattern has not previously been reported for any other group of insects showing cold avoidance behavior. These findings have implications at the winter ecology level but also at the agronomical level since treatments to control mealybug pests are, until now, only based on the fruit trees’ canopy. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-11T03:38:02Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-edefcc9c3fd94ef68cc1af9b94965818 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2075-4450 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-11T03:38:02Z |
| publishDate | 2023-05-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Insects |
| spelling | doaj.art-edefcc9c3fd94ef68cc1af9b949658182023-11-18T01:50:38ZengMDPI AGInsects2075-44502023-05-0114548110.3390/insects14050481A Novel Insect Overwintering Strategy: The Case of MealybugsRosa Vercher0Sandra González1Adrián Sánchez-Domingo2Juan Sorribas3Escuela Técnica Superior de Ingeniería Agronómica y del Medio Natural, Universitat Politècnica de València, Camino de Vera, s/n, 46022 Valencia, SpainEscuela Técnica Superior de Ingeniería Agronómica y del Medio Natural, Universitat Politècnica de València, Camino de Vera, s/n, 46022 Valencia, SpainEscuela Técnica Superior de Ingeniería Agronómica y del Medio Natural, Universitat Politècnica de València, Camino de Vera, s/n, 46022 Valencia, SpainUniversitat Politècnica de València, Camino de Vera, s/n, 46022 Valencia, SpainInsects have limited ability to regulate their body temperature and have thus required a range of strategies to withstand thermally stressful environments. Under unfavorable winter conditions, insects often take refuge under the soil surface to survive. Here, the mealybug insect family was selected for the study. Field experiments were performed in fruit orchards in eastern Spain. We used specifically designed floor sampling methods combined with fruit tree canopy pheromone traps. We found that in temperate climates, the large majority of the mealybugs move from the tree canopy to the roots during the winter, where they turn into belowground root-feeding herbivores to survive and continue underground the reproductive process. Within the rhizosphere, mealybugs complete at least one generation before emerging on the soil surface. The preferred area to overwinter is within 1 m in diameter around the fruit tree trunk, where more than 12,000 mealybug flying males per square meter can emerge every spring. This overwintering pattern has not previously been reported for any other group of insects showing cold avoidance behavior. These findings have implications at the winter ecology level but also at the agronomical level since treatments to control mealybug pests are, until now, only based on the fruit trees’ canopy.https://www.mdpi.com/2075-4450/14/5/481insect behaviourcold avoidancebelowground insectground overwinteringinsect sexual dimorphismroot-feeding insect |
| spellingShingle | Rosa Vercher Sandra González Adrián Sánchez-Domingo Juan Sorribas A Novel Insect Overwintering Strategy: The Case of Mealybugs Insects insect behaviour cold avoidance belowground insect ground overwintering insect sexual dimorphism root-feeding insect |
| title | A Novel Insect Overwintering Strategy: The Case of Mealybugs |
| title_full | A Novel Insect Overwintering Strategy: The Case of Mealybugs |
| title_fullStr | A Novel Insect Overwintering Strategy: The Case of Mealybugs |
| title_full_unstemmed | A Novel Insect Overwintering Strategy: The Case of Mealybugs |
| title_short | A Novel Insect Overwintering Strategy: The Case of Mealybugs |
| title_sort | novel insect overwintering strategy the case of mealybugs |
| topic | insect behaviour cold avoidance belowground insect ground overwintering insect sexual dimorphism root-feeding insect |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2075-4450/14/5/481 |
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