RLE 5020

PEST AND DISEASE MANAGEMENT

LECTURE 3
Topic: Colonization strategies of
insects on trees

1
 Outline
● Insect cycles, spread and ecology
● Association with living trees
● Association with weakened trees and
logs
● Association with fungi
● Association with nematodes
● Association with virus and bacteria
2
Why do we need to understand
different insect life cycles?
● Benign or harmful colonization?
● Different extent of damages could be
caused by different stages within a insect
life cycle
● In arboricultural practice, you may find
one particular stage during an inspection
● Your goal is to identify the causal agents
of decay, dieback or defoliation
(symptoms) with limited evidence (signs)
● Experience and knowledge are the key
for diagnosis, treatment and risk
prevention

3
Tips and Principles of using different terms

- There may be a number of different usages

between terms because of varying definitions
between countries, background of practicing
arborist, websites, citations and experience
- In principle, you should use the terms that are
widely applied in the most updated scientific
journals and then bracket the common
name/term
- Goal: avoid misunderstanding and confusion
- Striving for professionalism
4
Question:

Which stage of insects do you think

would be the most damaging to trees?

5
Insect cycles, spread and ecology

6
Moulting and growth (larval stage 幼蟲)

● Larval stage is an important period of

growth, during which they continue to
feed and grow.
● Insects do most of the growing in the
nymph or larval stage when growth rate is
extremely high.
● Because the exoskeleton limits growth in
size, as insects grow, they develop new
skin and shed the old one. This process is slough
known as moulting.
● The moulted skin is called slough
● Most winged insects moult between 4 and
12 times in their lives.

7
Different Insect larval types 幼蟲

8
https://entomology.ca.uky.edu/files/images_0/ef017005.jpg
Dipteran larvae
雙翅目幼蟲
蚊、蠅、虻

● lack of segmented thoracic legs.

● Instead of the traditionally jointed legs, many groups have one
or more pairs of fleshy, locomotory prolegs on the thorax
and/or abdomen, each with curved or even look-like spines.
● Larval dipterans are characterized by a highly diverse body
shape that is fusiform (Tabanidae, Dolichopodidae), cylindrical
(Chironomidae, Empididae), or sometimes anteriorly tapered
(Muscidae, Phoridae) or strongly dorsoventrally flattened
(Stratiomyidae). Others, such as Culicidae, Chaoboridae, and
Corethrellidae, have an enlarged thorax, while Simuliidae
have an enlarged abdomen (Teskey, 1981).
● The most common body segmentation pattern is that with 12
segments, 3 of which are thoracic, and 9 abdominal.
10
 Chironomidae
larva
搖蚊
Eucephalic
larvae

Tipulidae
larva Blephariceridae
larva
 Coleoptera larvae (Grub) 鞘翅目幼蟲

Curculionidae, Carabidae, Chrysomelidae, Scarabaeidae

https://www.ento.csiro.au/education/insects/coleoptera.html 12
 Definition of Coleoptera larvae 鞘翅目幼蟲

● Head capsule well-developed and sclerotized, with an ecdysial line

(usually Y-shaped) that divides the cranium into a frons and two
epicranial areas;
● antennae with four to one segments and a sensorium; stemmata (larval
ocelli) in number of six or fewer on each side;
● mouthparts of the chewing type, with opposable mandibles, without labial
silk glands;
● thoracic legs with six to fewer segments, sometimes vestigial or
completely absent;
● abdominal prolegs almost always absent; abdomen with 10 segments,
with segment IX variously modified (sometimes bearing paired dorsal
processes or urogomphi), segment X reduced and without cerci;
● respiratory system usually with nine pairs of spiracles, placed on thorax
(often on mesothorax) and on abdominal segments I-VIII.

https://www.researchgate.net/publication/285906499_Key_to_larvae_of_the_South_American_subfamilies_of 13
_weevils_Coleoptera_Curculionoidea
 Curculionidae larvae (True weevils)
象鼻蟲科幼蟲
6,800 genera and 83,000 species described worldwide.

https://www.researchgate.net/publication/285906499_Key_to_larvae_of_the_South_American_subfamilies_of
_weevils_Coleoptera_Curculionoidea
14
https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/pdf/10.1080/03036758.1977.10427160
 Definition of Curculionidae larvae (True weevils)
象鼻蟲科幼蟲
● comma-shaped grubs;
● with soft (usually whitish) abdominal segments, the first seven
or eight transversely divided into two to four dorsal folds or
plicae;
● legs absent or vestigial;
● head hypognathous, with reduced antennae (usually one-
segmented, rarely two-segmented, plus the sensorium);
● hypopharyngeal bracon present (except in some leaf-miners
and platypodines);
● maxilla with a single apical lobe or mala;
● abdominal tergum IX without urogonphi;
● spiracles annular, with or without airtubes

15
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/285906499_Key_to_larvae_of_the_South_American_subfamilies_of
_weevils_Coleoptera_Curculionoidea
 Carabidae larvae (ground
beetle) 步行蟲科幼蟲
http://www.nature.edu.hk/species_database/species/carabidae
http://hkentsoc.org/bulletin/Vol10(1)Apr18_Aston_Panagaeinae.pdf

● campodeiform,
● liquid-feeding mouthparts in the larvae
● have well-developed legs, antennae, and
mandibles, and bear fixed urogomphi
● usually undergoes three stages before pupating
in a specially constructed pupal chamber in the
soil.
● Some species (for example, Hurpulus and
Amuru spp.) have only two larval stages
● The larvae (second or third stage) of many
species undergo diapause, either hibernation or
aestivation

https://www.annualreviews.org/doi/pdf/10.1146/annurev.en.41.010196.001311 16
Chrysomelidae larvae (Leaf beetles)
金花蟲科幼蟲

17
https://zookeys.pensoft.net/article/11068/
Callirhipidae 細櫛角蟲科幼蟲
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/287302249_World_catalogue_of_the_family_Callirhipidae_Coleoptera_Elaterifor
mia_with_nomenclatural_notes

18
 Scarabaeidae larvae (Scarabs)
金龜子幼蟲

https://www.ipmimages.org/browse/detail.cfm?imgnum=1435165

https://www.researchgate.net/project/Morphology-and-Taxonomy-of-the-White-
Grubs-in-Brahmina-Coleoptera-Scarabaeidae-Melolonthinae

19
 Spiracles

Raster
Scarabaeidae larvae (Scarabs)
金龜子幼蟲

● C-shaped form body is curved downwards so that

the dorsal surface forms the outside of the curve
● The spiracles are cribriform (punctured like a sieve),
and are often surrounded by a sclerotized C-shaped
or kidney-shaped ring.
● There is usually a patch of short stout spines (called
the raster) ventrally on the last abdominal segment.

21
Lucanidae larvae (Stag Beetle) 鍬形蟲幼蟲

22
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0968432818303809#fig0005
Buprestidae larvae (Jewel Beetle) 吉丁蟲幼蟲

松吉丁蟲 Chalcophora japonica

https://zookeys.pensoft.net/article/37765/
Cerambycidae (Longhorn beetle) 天牛幼蟲

Fig. 1. A. Ergates faber faber,

larva; B. E. faber faber, pupa;
C. Rhaesus serriocollis, larva;
D. R. serriocollis, pupa; E.
Aegosoma scabricorne, larva;
F. Rhamnusium bicolor
bicolor, larva.

https://www.researchgate.net/publication/321964767_Host_plants_of_xylophagous_longhorn_beetle 25
s_Coleoptera_Cerambycidae_in_Bulgaria/figures?lo=1
https://stock.adobe.com/mt/search/images?k=batocera&asset_id=324229125
 Tenebrionidae larvae (Darkling Beetle) 擬步行
蟲科幼蟲

https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s00435-019-
00443-7

https://zookeys.pensoft.net/article/3838/
27
Types of Metamorphosis

● All insects undergo a series of changes in morphology

and physiology during their development from eggs to
adults -- known as metamorphosis.
● Different of groups of insects experience different types
of changes during this process, for example, the
changes in external appearance and forms, the
variations in number of body segments, the development
of wings, etc.
● Two major types: (although a lot more intermediate and
variations can be identified in different insects)
incomplete and complete metamorphosis

28
Complete Metamorphosis (holometabolous)

● Represented in butterflies & moths (Lepidoptera), beetles

(Coleoptera)
● Distinguished into: egg, larva, pupa, adults
● Exhibit differences in forms, feeding and living habits from
immature to adult stages
○ Avoid competition for food and habitats
● Butterflies & moths: obtect pupa (the insect cannot move
freely)
● Beetles: exarate pupa of long-horned beetles (the body and
abdomen can move freely)
● Flies: coarctate pupa (pupa body is separated from the pupa
shell which is made of the exoskeleton moutled by the larva)

29
http://classnotes123.com/metamorphosis-definition-
and-types-of-metamorphosis/
Incomplete Metamorphosis

● Egg, nymph, adult

● Wings emerge on the exterior in the juvenile stage
● Can be found in members under Exopterygota
● e.g., true bugs, grasshoppers, cockroaches,
termites, praying mantises, crickets, and lice.
● Can be divided into hemimetaboly (with naiad
immature stage which looks different between
stages) and paurometaboly (nymphs look extremely
like the adults)

31
 Life cycle of thrips

32

https://mrec.ifas.ufl.edu/lso/entomol/ncstate/thrips3.htm
Life cycle of thrips

33
 Life cycle of thrips
● Adult- Cuban laurel thrips are large thrips (2.6 to 3.6 mm) that
are dark yellowish brown to black.
● Egg- The eggs is cylindrical with rounded ends, smooth, and
translucent white.
● Larvae- The first stage larva is a tiny, translucent white insect. In
top view the first stage larva is almost oval. Second stage larvae
are also translucent white but are similar to the adult in size and
shape. Both instars have red eyes. The abdominal segments
taper from the thorax. In top view the second stage larvae are
shaped like an elongate diamond. The posterior tube becomes
dark in older larvae and is held pointing up.
● Prepupa and Pupa- Prepupae are similar to second stage
larvae except that the wing buds are externally visible. Pupae
have longer wing buds and the antennae are folded back over
the head.

34
Life cycle of thrips

● The life cycle of thrips consists of the egg stage,

followed by two larval stages, two pupal stages, and
finally the adult stage
● Males are generally smaller than the females.
● Thrips display parthenogenesis (reproducing
without mating), and both mated and unmated
females can lay eggs.
● The eggs of most plant-feeding thrips are inserted
into plant tissue by the females. The larval stages
actively feed on plant material.

35
Life cycle of Phauda flammans

● 2-3 generations per year, depending on the ambient temperature

● Eggs: aggregate on leaves
● Larva: up to 6 instars and feed on leaves during daytime
● Pupa: near roots and in the soil
● pre-pupae larvae and pupae of
● Overwintering stage: pre-pupae larvae and pupae of the second
generation and young larvae of the third generation
● 1st generation – At the beginning of spring, March or April, the 1st season adults emerge from
hibernation and begin to reproduce. Eggs are laid through late April and larvae begin to feed between
April and late May.
● 2nd generation – 2nd generation adult moths are active in late May to early June and the 2nd season
larvae feed between June to July.
● 3rd generation – 3rd generation adult moths are active in August to early September and the 3rd
season larvae feed between September to October.

36
http://www.lykxyj.com/en/article/id/5a5568ce-7198-4c01-9f57-bcb3f38424c4
Potentials of Pest Outbreak
● While some pests are a problem every year, others are only
occasional problems.
● Serious outbreaks may be due to a combination of favorable
weather conditions and a relative absence of predators, parasites
and diseases of the pest.
● Minor pests often need a run of several good reproductive cycles
before they are numerous enough to become a significant problem.
● Hot, dry summers favour certain pests such as spider mites and
thrips, while slugs and snails thrive under damp conditions.
● Cold winters do not kill pests as most insects has a cold-tolerant
overwintering stage. Mild winters can allow some pests, such as
aphids, that would normally go dormant, to continue feeding and
breeding, resulting in higher populations in spring

38
Surviving the Winter --- overwintering

● The means by which pests overwinter varies, although each species will
usually have a particular stage in its life cycle in which it survives the
colder months of the year.
● Depending on the species, this may be the egg, one of the nymphal or
larval stages, the pupa or adult.
● The overwintering stage generally occurs in some sheltered place, such
as in the soil, in the crevices of bark or inside dense shrubs such as
conifers.
● Many insects and mites go into a form of hibernation called diapause
from which they will not emerge until they have experienced a sufficient
period of cold. This prevents them emerging prematurely whenever the
winter weather turns mild.
● Some glasshouse pests, such as whitefly, continue feeding and breeding
throughout the year, albeit more slowly in winter than in summer.

39
Beetle
https://youtu.be/NhTR0x7PSJU
Lady bug
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gCQTdrVSlHM
Lepidoptera
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pn314PtjuVw
Fly
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WsVZu2Sgavk
Praying Mantis (Incomplete Metamorphosis)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=urk-_Uh2vbg

40
Question

What are the key factors to understand

insect spread and damage?

41
Insect Behavior and Ecology

● There is a common misconception that insects have

simple and limited behavioral responses, however
this is absolutely wrong (Triplehorn & Johnson,
2005)
● Insect behaviors carry out during their lives are the
result a complex interplay between environmental
stimuli, internal state and experience and the way
their activities are organized often is exceedingly
complex (Triplehorn & Johnson, 2005)

42
Behavior Modification

● Motivation
● Learning
○ Habituation
○ Associative learning
○ Latent learning
○ Insight learning

43
https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/Behavioral-manipulation-methods-for-insect-Foster-
Harris/93b2c1b8c2596dfadc710da51f5da6c9bf26b429
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/318929991_Robust_Manipulations_of_Pest_Insect_Behavior_Using
_Repellents_and_Practical_Application_for_Integrated_Pest_Management
Semiochemicals and Their Potential Use in
Pest Management
https://www.intechopen.com/chapters/53055

Insects use semiochemicals to locate mate, host, or food source,

avoid competition, escape natural enemies, and overcome natural
defense systems of their hosts. Semiochemicals have the advantage
of being used to communicate message over relatively long distances
compared with other insect means of communication such as touch.
● Attract and kill (A&K)
● Mating disruption
○ Competitive attraction or false trail following
○ Camouflage
○ Desensitization
○ Sensory imbalance
● Mass trapping
● Repellents
46
Questions

● Which stage(s) of insect should we focus for pest

control?
● What kinds of inspiration do you get after
understanding the semiochemicals and plant
chemicals contributing to host selection in
oviposition?

49
Social systems
● Insects known to meet the three conventional criterial of
eusociality are found only in the orders Isoptera (termites),
Hymenoptera (bees, wasps and ants) and some Coleoptera
(beetles)
Advantages:
● In mutualistic aggregation, group living and reciprocal altruism
benefits all members, especially under certain environmental
conditions
● In parental manipulation, the reproductive individual (the queen)
controls the nutrition of her helpless larvae, she diminishes and
eliminates their reproductive capacity
● In kin selection, members are closely related, so non-
reproductive members gain inclusive fitness from the success of
their reproductive relatives

50
Community Associations

● Arthropods in general are major players in all

biotic communities
● Phytophagous (herbivorous) --- feed on plants
to obtain nutrients, and are thus primary
consumers
● Zoophagous ---- secondary, tertiary, or
quaternary consumers
● Detritivores --- feed on dead organic matters
● Omnivorous --- feeding opportunistically on
living plant or animal tissues

51
Association with microorganisms

● A variety of microbes assist insects nutritionally, living in close

association with them or internally.
● In return, the insect provides a home, a source of food, and a
mechanism for transmission to other insects.
● Many wood-eating termites, and also wood-eating cockroaches,
harbor colonies of flagellate protists and bacteria in a special
chamber in the anterior hindgut.
● These microbes break down cellulose, which is otherwise
indigestible.
● They are passed to newly hatched termites by the fecal-oral
transmission route used also in communication.
● Similarly, wax moths, which live in honey bee colonies and eat the
wax of their honey combs, contain bacteria that digest the wax.
53
Arthropod Vectors of Pathogens and
Parasites:

● Arthropods often serve as vectors, transmitting pathogens and

internal parasites to vertebrates or to plants.
● Some pathogens are transmitted accidentally or incidentally,
having no biological relationship with the arthropod
(mechanical /nonpersistent transmission)
● for example, a variety of viruses and bacteria carried by
house flies and cockroaches.
● In closer vector-pathogen relationships (biological /persistent
transmission), which are obligate and fairly species specific

54
Arthropod Vectors of Pathogens and
Parasites:

Four subfamilies are identified to be the

predominant insect vectors of tree diseases:
Buprestidae 吉丁蟲亞科
Cerambycidae 天牛科
Platypodinae 象鼻蟲亞科
Scolytinae小蠹蟲亞科

55
● Some bark beetles
(Scolytinae 小蠹蟲亞科)
and ambrosia beetles
(Platypodinae 象鼻蟲亞科
) cultivate fungi
(Ascomycetes and
Asexual Ascomycetes) in
their tunnels beneath the
bark

56
Insect as Vectors of Plant pathogens

57

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gecco.2018.e00437
 Coleoptera: Curculionidae:
Scolytinae小蠹蟲亞科

Responsible beetle species for

causing Dutch Elm Disease:
● Native elm bark beetle—
Hylurgopinus rufipes
● Smaller European elm bark
beetle—Scolytus multistriatus
● Banded elm bark beetle—S.
schevyrewi

Ophiostoma sp.

https://www.researchgate.net/figure/Dutch-elm-disease-DED-cycle-Young-elm-bark-beetles-carrying-spores-of-DED-fungi- 58
A_fig1_321824366
 Hemipteran Insects as vectors for
transmission of bacteria and viruses in
horticultural plants and crops
Hemipteran insects include: whiteflies, aphids, psyllids, and leafhoppers.

59
https://doi.org/10.3389/fpls.2016.01163
2020
Pathogens and Parasites

● Insects are attacked by a wide variety of

microorganisms, including viruses, rickettsiae,
spirochetes, eubacteria, protists, and fungi.
● Insects also are infected by flukes, tapeworms,
roundworms, hairworms, thorny-headed worms, and
parasitic insects
● Most of these infections result in death of the host insect
and form the
basis of several kinds of successful biological control of
insect pests.

61
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/224920024_Myco-
Biocontrol_of_Insect_Pests_Factors_Involved_Mechanism_and_Regulation
Entomopathogenic fungi

● A substantial number of mycoinsecticides and

mycoacaricides have been developed worldwide since the
1960s. Products based on Beauveria bassiana (33.9%),
Metarhizium anisopliae (33.9%), Isaria fumosorosea
(5.8%), and B. brongniartii (4.1%) are the most common
among the 171 products
● Approximately 75% of all listed products are currently
registered, undergoing registration or commercially
available, whereas 15% are no longer available.
● Insects in the orders Hemiptera, Coleoptera, Lepidoptera,
Thysanoptera, and Orthoptera comprise most of the
targets.

https://www.researchgate.net/publication/224920024_Myco-
65
Biocontrol_of_Insect_Pests_Factors_Involved_Mechanism_and_Regulation
https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1111/een.12792
Lepidoptera Parasitoid
● Parasitoids have a long history of pest management, specially
for control of economical important lepidopteran pests, such
as Noctuidae, Tortricidae, and Pyralidae.
● The two major parasitoids super families Trichogrammatidae
and Braconidae in relation to biocontrol of lepidopteron pests
are important.
● using parasitoid Hymenoptera can be a safe and viable
method of crop protection.

67
https://www.intechopen.com/chapters/67152
Associations between Insects and Nematodes

● Poinar (1975) reported that the beetle family Scarabaeidae had the
largest listing of insect-associated nematodes, but this is doubtful.
● in fig-wasps (Agaonidae) it appears that every species is probably
intimately associated with between 1 to 5 host-specific nematode species
(Giblin-Davis et al. 1995, 2006c; Kanzaki et al. 2009a; Davies et al.
2010a).
● In Scolytidae小蠹蟲亞科 and Platypodidae 長小蠢亞科, the species-
specific association rate is probably closer to 3 or more unique nematode
species per species of bark or ambrosia beetle (Rühm 1956; Massey
1974; Poinar 1975).
● In certain Cerambycidae天牛科, it is about 2 unique nematode species
per long-horned beetle species with certain subfamilies having no known
associates (e.g. Lepturina) and other subfamilies having 2 or more
unique species per beetle species (e.g. Lamiinae) (Poinar 1975; Kan zaki
unpubl. obs.).

68
Associations between Insects and Nematodes

● In the lucanids (stag beetles) 鍬形蟲all species examined were

associated with one or more unique nematode species (Kanzaki et al.
2011).
● In the scarab beetles (Scarabaeidae), there appears to be significant
variability for as sociation rates, with some species having one or
more unique nematode species and others with many shared
nematode species and some with out any known associates
(Herrmann et al. 2006; Poinar 1975)
● In termites (Isoptera), the association rate is probably closer to one
unique nematode species per termite species (Kanzaki et al. 2012)
● 1:1 association rate is probably true for many fly families (Diptera)
such as the Fergusoniidae (Fergusonina) (Davies et al. 2010b) as
well as many of the flea species (Siphonaptera) (Poinar 1975).

69
Rarer associations with nematodes?

● Lepidoptera (butterflies and moths), Orthoptera

(grasshop pers) and Hemiptera (true bugs), are
generally not associated with nematodes, and when
associations occur, they mostly involve mermithid
para sitoids that may not be particularly host
specific, with rare instances of phoretic or parasitic
associations

70
Pinewood Nematodes (Bursaphelenchus
xylophilus) and Monochamus Long-horned
Beetles

https://www.cell.com/trends/parasitology/fulltext/S1471-4922(14)00071-3 71
Conclusion

● The associations between insect, host species, and

other organisms (including microorganisms) are
extremely complicated.
● A natural forest usually has complex regulatory
mechanisms between organisms to regulate the
numbers of each group.
● However, owing the problem of climate change has
disrupted the natural balance and scientists has
predicted that there will be more disease outbreak
in years ahead.

72
Reference:

● https://www.fs.usda.gov/ccrc/topics/insect-disturbance-and-climate-
change
● https://www.ars.usda.gov/northeast-area/beltsville-md-barc/beltsville-
agricultural-research-center/systematic-entomology-laboratory/
● https://www.omicsonline.org/entomology-journals-conferences-
list.php
● https://www.eje.cz/current_issue.php

73