Effect of Lygus Bugs (Hemiptera: Miridae) on Field Beans in Manitoba
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EFFECT OF LYGUS BUGS (HEMIPTERA: MIRIDAE) ON FIELD BEANS IN MANITOBA A Thesis Submitted to The Faculty of Graduate Studies The University of Manitoba By Tharshinidevy Nagalingam In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for The Degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY Department of Entomology © 2016 Copyright by Tharshinidevy Nagalingam Winnipeg, Manitoba, CANADA ABSTRACT Tharshinidevy Nagalingam. The University of Manitoba, 2016. EFFECT OF LYGUS BUGS (HEMIPTERA: MIRIDAE) ON FIELD BEANS IN MANITOBA Supervisor: Prof. Neil J. Holliday Lygus lineolaris (Palisot de Beauvois), L. elisus (Van Duzee), L. borealis (Knight) and Adelphocoris lineolatus (Goeze) were the major species of plant bugs present in commercial field bean and soybean fields in 2008–2010. Lygus lineolaris comprised 78–95% of the mirid adults and <10% were A. lineolatus. Lygus lineolaris reproduced in field beans and completed a single generation. In field beans, adults entered the crop in late July, corresponding to growth stages from late vegetative to pod initiation, and females laid eggs in the crop. Nymphs hatched and developed and were most numerous at the seed development and seed filling stage. At seed maturity, late instar nymphs and adults were present. In soybeans, L. lineolaris reproduced but nymphs had poorer survival than in field beans. Late in the season, adult numbers greatly increased in field beans and soybeans, partly due to immigration of adult Lygus bugs from early‐ maturing crops. Field beans and soybeans appeared to be a transient host for A. lineolatus. There were no effects on yield quality or quantity associated with the numbers of plant bugs seen in field surveys. In laboratory and field cages, the type of injury from L. lineolaris feeding differed among plant growth stages but not between nymphs and adults, although nymphs generally were more injurious. At flowering to pod initiation, abortion of buds, flowers or pods was the most common response to feeding injury; pod abortion did not occur when injury occurred at later growth stages. Sometimes abortions resulted in reduced yield quantity, but sometimes plants i compensated for the injury. No loss of seed quality occurred from feeding at this stage. During seed development and filling, feeding injury most frequently affected the vascular supply to filling seeds, resulting in shriveled seeds and pods at harvest, and consequent reduced total harvested seed weight. At seed maturity, direct seed injury, involving penetration of the testa and loss of cotyledon tissue, was the most frequent injury and resulted in pits in the seed coat at harvest. There was no loss in yield quantity when feeding occurred at seed maturity, but seed pitting reduced yield quality. ii DEDICATION To my aunties Vijidevi (Peri) and Jeyanthini (Mummy) To my dear sister Thulaja To my dear friend Kajal To my brothers Piraba and Kannan To my husband Ananthan and my dear son Hrishi For their unconditional love, encouragement and understanding which always motivated me towards my career path iii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Firstly, I would like to offer my sincere thanks to my advisor, Dr. N. Holliday for his excellent guidance throughout the course of my program and for his critical commentary on the thesis and manuscripts. Thank you very much Dr. Holliday for your great support and care in various ways which helped me succeed in my program. My thanks are due to the members of my advisory committee Drs. R. Lamb, R. Currie, S. Arntfield and R. Gulden for their comments and suggestions. Special thanks go to Dr. Lamb for his advice on my experiments and for reviewing my manuscripts. I thank Drs. T. Galloway, the late R. Roughley, A. Costamagna, B. Sharonowski, K. Rochon, P. Mackay, E. Huebner, and M. Sumner and Mr. J. Bannerman for all their support throughout my study period. Special thanks go to Bruce Brolly for connecting me to Manitoba’s pulse industry and for input on experimental design. Thanks are due to pulse growers in Manitoba for access to their fields, and to Parent Seed Farms and Viterra Seed Farms for grading seed samples. Special thanks go to Dennis Lange for grading and other assistance. Dr. A. Hou and his technicians assisted with threshing, and also advised on growing navy beans in environmental chambers. Dr. P. Balasubramanian advised on bean production. Technical support from D. Holder, L. Babey, I. Brown, M. Malesko, R. Terhorst, A. Dufresne and A. Iverson is greatly appreciated. Thanks are due to A. Leroux, C. Babel, A. Sharma, A. Rios, B. Rogala, T. Harms, C. To, L. Peixoto, J. Crowe, J. Mcleod, T. Dickson, T. Sharanowski, S. Ibara, S. Surowiec, R. Duarte, J. Veilleux and T. Sharma for field and laboratory help. I am grateful to K. Graham and M.A. Baker for their help. I thank all the graduate students in the Department of Entomology, especially L. Andreassen, J. Veilleux, J. Du, S. Oghiakhe, R. Bahreini, S. Desai, M. Zhang, A. Rios and A. Leroux for their moral support, motivation and iv encouragement. Special thanks go to Dr. L. Holliday for her love and care, which encouraged and motivated me at difficult times. Essential financial support for the successful completion of this study was provided by The University of Manitoba, Manitoba’s Agri-Food Research and Development Initiative, and the Manitoba Pulse Growers Association. The support and encouragement of my husband Yogananthan Thambimuthu and my son Hrishikesh Yogananthan is highly appreciated. Special thanks to the Sel Paranjothy family for accommodating me in their home when I first came to Canada and for their kind support and encouragement during my study. I thank all my friends in Winnipeg for their help throughout my study. Last but not least, I wish to offer my gratitude to my family members for their understanding and unwavering support throughout my career path. v TABLE OF CONTENTS ABSTRACT .................................................................................................................................... i DEDICATION.............................................................................................................................. iii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ........................................................................................................ iv TABLE OF CONTENTS ............................................................................................................ vi LIST OF TABLES ..................................................................................................................... viii LIST OF FIGURES ...................................................................................................................... x LIST OF COPYRIGHTED MATERIALS ............................................................................... xi CHAPTER 1: General Introduction Introduction ................................................................................................................................. 2 Objectives of the research ........................................................................................................... 3 Thesis organization ..................................................................................................................... 3 CHAPTER 2: Literature Review Literature Review ........................................................................................................................ 6 1a. Field beans in Canada ........................................................................................................ 6 1b. Reproductive structures of Phaseolus vulgaris ............................................................... 12 1c. Soybeans in Manitoba ...................................................................................................... 13 2. Plant bug classification, distribution and importance ........................................................ 14 3a. Biology of Lygus lineolaris ............................................................................................. 16 3b. Biology of alfalfa plant bug ............................................................................................. 19 4. Feeding of Lygus bugs ....................................................................................................... 19 5a. Host plants of Lygus bugs and alfalfa plant bugs ............................................................ 22 5b. Nature and impact of Lygus bug damage in different plants ........................................... 23 6. Sampling methods for Lygus bugs..................................................................................... 27 CHAPTER 3 – Manuscript I Plant bugs (Hemiptera: Miridae) on field beans and soybeans in Manitoba: species composition and seasonal occurrence. ...................................................................................... 31 Abstract ..................................................................................................................................... 32 Introduction ............................................................................................................................... 33 Materials and methods .............................................................................................................. 34 vi Results ....................................................................................................................................... 36 Discussion ................................................................................................................................