2nd Place: Physiological and behavioral mechanisms of age-based host selection in Halyomorpha halys (Hemiptera: Pentatomidae)

Monday, November 14, 2022

9:00 AM – 9:12 AM PT

Location: Vancouver Convention Centre, Meeting Room 111/112

Presenting Author(s)

JW

Julia C. Wooby

Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey
Branchburg, New Jersey

Co-Author(s)

GH

George C. Hamilton

Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey
New Brunswick, New Jersey
CH

Chloe Hawkings

Assistant Professor, Entomology Undergraduate Program Director
Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey
New Brunswick, New Jersey

The brown marmorated stink bug, Halyomorpha halys, is a major agricultural pest in the eastern US due to its generalist phytophagous diet. Through its five nymphal stages, H. halys feeds primarily indirectly on the leaves and stems of plants; the adults are of the greatest economic importance due to the feeding damage they cause on the marketable, fruiting body of the plant. Despite their generalist diet, there is an element of host selection in H. halys both for feeding and oviposition site selection. Female oviposition site selection correlates to fecundity due to the host plant’s impact on the success of offspring. Response of H. halys to plant volatile organic compounds (VOCs) has been shown to contribute to host selection where these chemicals act as kairomones. Here we investigate the age-based behavioral and genetic variation in host selection. Understanding the physiological mechanisms that play a role in host selection could result in a better understanding of the olfactory genes that could be potential candidates in gene knockout applications.