LB 1-2 - Characterizing substrate-borne vibrational mating signals produced by pear psylla, Cacopsylla pyricola (Hemiptera: Psyllidae)

Tactics that manipulate insect behavior are a component of many pest management strategies. For example, pheromone-based mating disruption is widely used in agricultural systems; however, few studies have assessed disrupting other mating communication mechanisms, such as acoustic signals. The most destructive pear pest, pear psylla, Cacopsylla pyricola is hypothesized to communicate using acoustic signals to find mates, making it a candidate for this type of disruption. This species has two adult morphs, overwintering adults (winterforms) that emerge in the early spring and subsequent generations (summerforms). Our study characterized mating songs for both sexes of pear psylla and assessed whether temperature and presence of conspecific individuals altered songs and behavior. While there are descriptions for acoustic signals of other psyllid species, this study provides the first evidence that C. pyricola communicates acoustically. The two sexes communicate via duetting – males will sing to attract a female and the female will sing back if she is interested in mating. We demonstrated that both morphotypes’ male songs contain a group of chirps followed by a trill, while females respond with chirps. Morphotype male song trills differed significantly in frequency (Hz). The song frequency among morphs had a positive linear relationship with temperature, suggesting that dissimilarity in signals among morphs was temperature-based. Males were more likely to sing when they had previously encountered females compared to naïve males. Our results provide more precise information on how pear psylla communicate acoustically for mating, advancing the potential to develop mating disruption strategies for integrated pest management (IPM).