Settling behavior of the potato psyllid, Bactericera cockerelli (Hemiptera: Triozidae) on cultivated and wild solanaceous hosts in the lower Rio Grande valley of Texas

Experiments were conducted to determine the settling and oviposition behavior of the potato psyllid, Bactericera cockerelli (Sulc) on different solanaceous hosts under field and laboratory conditions. An oligophagous pest, B.cockerelli is an important plant disease vector because of its association with the bacterial pathogen “Candidatus Liberibacter solanacearum” the causative agent of potato zebra chip disease. Two field trials were conducted during 2012-2013 to evaluate preference of adult B. cockerelli to cultivated and wild solanaceous hosts: potato, Solanum tuberosum; tomato, Solanum lycopersicum; eggplant, Solanum melongena; bellpepper, Capsicum annum; and silverleaf nightshade, Solanum elaeagnifolium. In the field, hosts were planted in pairs (15 pairwise comparisons) with replicates and the number of adults alighting on each plant in a free-choice manner was counted. In the laboratory, each pair of host plants was grown in separate insect-proof cages. Fifteen pairs of one week-old B. cockerelli adults were released into each cage and settling behavior was observed on each of the15 different paired plant comparisons over a 72-h period. B. cockerelli adults were removed after one week and the number of eggs laid on each plant was counted. Under laboratory conditions, B.cockerelli preferred to settle on eggplants more than potatoes or tomatoes of the same age whereas, in the field, more B. cockerelli oriented towards potatoes than other solanaceous hosts. This study will help understand host selection behavior of B.cockerelli with the goal of utilizing alternate hosts as “attract and kill” trap crops to manage this pest.