Egg morphology and chorionic ultrastructure of spotted lanternfly, Lycorma delicatula (White) (Hemiptera: Fulgoridae)

Authors: Powell, Jonathan; NIXON, LAURA - Oak Ridge Institute For Science And Education (ORISE); LOURIE, AUSTIN - University Of California, Davis; Leskey, Tracy; Walse, Spencer

Submitted to: Forests
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 11/23/2023
Publication Date: 11/30/2023
Citation: Powell, J.M., Nixon, L.J., Lourie, A.P., Leskey, T.C., Walse, S.S. 2023. Egg morphology and chorionic ultrastructure of spotted lanternfly, Lycorma delicatula (White) (Hemiptera: Fulgoridae). Forests. 14(12). Article 2354. https://doi.org/10.3390/f14122354.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.3390/f14122354

Interpretive Summary: Invasive species, like the spotted lanternfly (SLF), pose a threat to domestic and international agricultural trade. As the overwintering life stage of SLF, eggs are deposited on a variety of surfaces, including many forestry products that can be distributed geographically via travel, commerce, and/or trade (e.g., logs, bark, sawn timber, Christmas trees). Determining the most effective course of action to limit the spread and impact that SLF has on the trade of forest products is a major goal. Fumigants are highly effective towards eggs if they are able to reach the inside of the egg to kill the developing embryo. We used scanning electron microscopy (SEM) to determine the presence of pores or holes on the egg surface that could serve as possible routes for fumigant penetration. SLF eggs were found to be extremely porous; therefore, it is likely that fumigation will be an effective control option and toxicological research has already begun to define efficacious fumigation schedules.

Technical Abstract: Knowledge regarding egg morphology can aid the selection of postharvest fumigants for insect control. Accordingly, scanning electron microscopy (SEM) was used to examine eggs of spotted lanternfly (SLF), Lycorma delicatula (White) (Hemiptera: Pentatomidae), a pest recently invasive to the mid-Atlantic region of the United States. As the overwintering life stage of SLF, eggs are deposited on a variety of refugia, including many forestry products that can be distributed geographically via travel, commerce, and/or trade. For fumigation to control SLF, and potentially translate into a viable strategy for limiting the spread of SLF by subject pathways, the fumigant must permeate the chorion to react with biomolecules and/or disrupt cellular processes. SLF chorion was characterized by a porous network of aeropyles localized around the operculum, in cranial and caudal relation to the developing nymph, as well as an interstice between the operculum edge and the opercular rim. The confirmation of chorionic ultrastructure that allows for ready gas exchange warrants further investigation of fumigation efficacy, even for those “non-reactive” fumigants, such as phosphine and hydrogen cyanide, which must overcome the suppression of cellular processes coincident with overwintering.