Assessment of green fluorescent powder for marking sunn pest, Eurygaster integriceps

Marking is often an important part of studies of insect biology, ethology and demography. In this study, the effect of green fluorescent powder was determined on survival, fertilityand behavior of sunn pest Eurygaster integriceps in the laboratory. Powder was used for marking the insects as alone and mixed with nail polish. To determine the effects offluorescent powder on dispersal behavior, wheat grain and water were put at one end of abox and the insects were released on the other end of it. The dispersal behavior and movement of insects toward food and water were monitored for six days after marking.Analysis of the data revealed that in the insects marked with the fluorescent powder, the mortality of insects, the number of eggs laid, unhatched eggs and nymphs were not significantly different compared with controls. The fluorescent powder was also used formass marking of this insect in the field to determine the aestivation and overwintering (resting) sites. At the end of the growing season, close to 8000 insects were marked andreleased in the field. These insects were sought in the hills assumed to be the resting sites but no marked insect was found among the collected insects. This indicated that either the hills thought to be the resting sites were not true resting sites or a higher number of insects should have been marked and released to achieve this purpose.

کلیدواژه ها:

Eurygaster integriceps ، fluorescent powder ، insect marking ، overwintering