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ARS Home » Northeast Area » Kearneysville, West Virginia » Appalachian Fruit Research Laboratory » Innovative Fruit Production, Improvement, and Protection » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #387396
Research Project: Integrated Production and Automation Systems for Temperate Fruit Crops

Location: Innovative Fruit Production, Improvement, and Protection

Title: Survivorship and development of the invasive Lycorma delicatula (Hemiptera: Fulgoridae) on wild and cultivated temperate host plants

Author
item NIXON, LAURA - Oak Ridge Institute For Science And Education (ORISE)
item Jones, Sharon
item Tang, Lisa
item URBAN, JULIE - Pennsylvania State University
item FELTON, KAREN - Us Forest Service (FS)
item Leskey, Tracy

Submitted to: Environmental Entomology
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 11/3/2021
Publication Date: 12/3/2021
Citation: Nixon, L.J., Jones, S.K., Tang, L., Urban, J., Felton, K., Leskey, T.C. 2021. Survivorship and development of the invasive Lycorma delicatula (Hemiptera: Fulgoridae) on wild and cultivated temperate host plants. Environmental Entomology. 51(1):222-228. https://doi.org/10.1093/ee/nvab137.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1093/ee/nvab137

Interpretive Summary: Spotted lanternfly (SLF) is an invasive insect originating in Asia that has established populations in the USA. This insect is a phloem feeder with a broad host plant range including important cultivated and native plants, such as grapevine, maples, and black walnut. Here, we established that two wild hosts common to the mid-Atlantic region, tree of heaven and black walnut, support the development and survivorship of SLF. When tree of heaven was paired with apple, peach, or grape diets, SLF developed into adults more quickly than with a tree of heaven only diet, indicating that mixed diets may enable adults to be present in the field earlier and longer.

Technical Abstract: The invasive spotted lanternfly (SLF), Lycorma delicatula, continues to spread throughout the Eastern United States. This species exhibits a broad host range, with tree of heaven, Ailanthus altissima (Mill.) Swingle, commonly referred to as a preferred host. Here, we evaluated two-week survivorship of early nymphal instars, late nymphal instars, and adult L. delicatula on single diets of ten wild and cultivated hosts: tree of heaven; apple, Malus domestica; peach, Prunus persica; black cherry, P. serotina Ehrh; black locust, Robinia pseudoacacia L.; black walnut, Juglans nigra L.; common hackberry Celtis occidentalis L.; mulberry Morus alba L.; sugar maple Acer saccharum Marshall; white oak, Quercus alba L. Among them, early and late instars had significantly greater survivorship on tree of heaven and black walnut and adults on tree of heaven. Additionally, we evaluated development and survivorship of L. delicatula from newly hatched nymphs to adulthood on single diets of tree of heaven, black walnut, grapevine, apple, and peach, and mixed diets of tree of heaven plus one host. Single host diets that supported L. delicatula development to adulthood were tree of heaven and black walnut. Interestingly, mixed diets also supported development and reduced development time to adults by up to 12%, compared with the single tree of heaven diet. Our results suggest that within agroecosystems and across landscapes, L. delicatula can develop on single hosts, such as tree of heaven, but also on multiple host plants, yielding adults earlier in the growing season.