title: Response of Melittia oedipus (Lepidoptera: Sesiidae) to visual cues is increased by the presence of food source.
abstract: Visual and olfactory cues were shown to mediate short-distance orientation to different colors in the presence and in the absence of food in Melittia oedipus Oberthür (Lepidoptera: Sesiidae), a biological control agent of Coccinia grandis (L.) Voigt (Violales: Cucurbitaceae). Yellow was the color most preferred by M. oedipus, and adults landed significantly more on yellow paper moistened with honey-water. The next preferred colors were gray and white with the identical food source. Colors such as red, blue, green, brown, and black were least preferred by M. oedipus and attracted the adults on par with each other. The M. oedipus landings on petri dishes which held yellow-, gray-, and white-colored papers were significantly higher than the colorless petri dishes with olfactory stimuli only. There was no significant difference in landings on different-colored papers moistened with honey-water or with water alone in the morning compared with those in the evening. The cumulative response of M. oedipus to different-colored papers moistened with honey-water was significantly higher than the colored papers moistened with water only. Correspondingly, the response of M. oedipus to yellow-colored paper moistened with honey-water was significantly higher than the yellow-colored paper moistened with water only. Therefore, yellow paper moistened with honey-water can increase the feeding rate of M. oedipus and can be a potential technique in developing mass cultures for field release to control the invasive weed.
authors.affiliation: Agricultural Experiment Station, College of Natural and Applied Sciences, University of Guam, Mangilao, Guam 96923. reddy@uguam.uog.edu
authors.forename: G V P
authors.initials: GV
authors.lastname: Reddy
authors.forename: Z T
authors.initials: ZT
authors.lastname: Cruz
authors.forename: N
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Braganza
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Muniappan
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001070:Appetitive Behavior; D003116:Color; D019662:Cucurbitaceae / Q000469:parasitology*; D003463:Cues; D005260:Female; D006722:Honey; D008297:Male; D009036:Moths; D009812:Odorants; D010572:Pest Control, Biological; D013997:Time Factors; D014867:Water
chemical_list: D014867:Water