Evaluation of Cotton Fleahopper (Pseudatomoscelisseriatus (Reuter)) Feeding on Mpp51Aa2-Traited Cotton Utilizing Electrical Penetration Graph (EPG) Waveforms
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abstract
Prior to the recent implementation of the Mpp51Aa2 pesticidal protein (ThryvOn), transgenic cotton cultivars have historically offered no control of the cotton fleahopper (Pseudatomocelis seriatus (Reuter)). To evaluate the feeding behavior of cotton fleahoppers on ThryvOn cotton, electropenetrography (EPG) using a Giga-8 DC instrument was used to monitor the probing activity of fourth- and fifth-instar cotton fleahopper nymphs on both ThryvOn and non-ThryvOn cotton squares. Nymphs were individually placed on an excised cotton square for 8 h of EPG recording, after which resulting waveforms were classified as non-probing, cell rupturing, or ingestion. Although there were significantly more cell rupturing events per insect on ThryvOn (mean SEM, 14.8 1.7) than on non-ThryvOn squares (mean SEM, 10.3 1.6), there was no difference attributable to ThryvOn in the average number of ingestion events per insect. However, the average duration of ingestion events was significantly shorter on squares with ThryvOn (mean SEM, 509 148 s) than on squares without (mean SEM, 914 135 s). This suggests that cotton fleahoppers continued to probe despite their inability to sustain ingestion. These results provide conclusive evidence that the Mpp51Aa2 pesticidal protein affects the feeding behavior of cotton fleahopper nymphs.
