Orius minutus

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Orius minutus
Orius minutus feeding on Trioza rhamni - ZooKeys-319-169-g002.jpeg
Orius minutus feeding on Trioza rhamni.
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Hemiptera
Suborder: Heteroptera
Family: Anthocoridae
Genus: Orius
Species:
O. minutus
Binomial name
Orius minutus
(Wolff, 1811) [1]

Orius minutus is a Palearctic species of minute pirate bug in the family Anthocoridae. [1] O. minutus is naturally distributed throughout Europe, western Russia, North Africa, China, Japan, and Siberia [1] [2] The predatory bug was accidentally introduction into North America through plant material commerce and regular dispersal; the introduction of O. minutus is generally considered beneficial to the agricultural industry. [1] [3] [4] O. minutus is an important addition to the predator complex of many crops, and its role as a non-commercialized biological control agent highlights its unique contribution to pest management strategies. [1] [3] [4]

Contents

Diagnostics

Adults

Adult females of O. minutus are larger (2.05-2.60 mm total length) and more broadly ovate (0.85-0.97 mm pronotal width) than males, who are slenderer (0.7-0.82 mm pronotal width) and possess thicker antennae. [1] The heads range from dark brown to black, all sporting yellow antennae. [1] The pronotum and scutellum are brownish-grey to brownish-black, with the hardened forewings yellowish brown. [1] The underside and hind legs are dark brown to black, with the front and middle legs yellow. [1] Lengths of golden setae adorn the dorsal side of the insect. [1]

Nymphs

Fifth instar nymphs of O. minutus are differentiated from other members of the genus Orius (e.g. O. tristicolor ) by their broadly ovate body shape with one-third of the wing pad's tip a much darker colour than the rest of the dorsum. [1] The maximum width of the pronotum is 0.70 mm or greater. [1]

It is difficult to differentiate between earlier instars; many members of the genus Orius are a creamy white colour prior to their fifth instar. [1] However, O. minutus are generally more robust and broader than other species. [1] Their eyes nearly touch the anterior margin of the pronotum. [1] The head is relatively short, with the protunum almost 1.5 times the width of the head. [1]

Reproduction

Mating

O. minutus females are functionally monandrous. [5] Generally, females can not be inseminated by one mating; [5] only if the first mating fails will the females choose to mate with another male. [5] Females will refuse unwanted mating attempts by lifting their ovipositors and struggling; [5] such behaviours suggest females control the functional monandry. [5] The number of unique male partners does not affect fecundity, though mating with a single male decreases the hatching success of eggs. [5] Males are polygamous and can inseminate at least three females at a rate of one female per day; [5] the insemination ability of males persists for at least three copulations. [5]

Unlike many members of Anthocoridae, traumatic insemination does not occur within O. minutus. [6] Males instead employ extragenital insemination to transfer spermatozoa into the female's body. [6] The male's needle-like flagellum is inserted intersegmentally between the female's abdominal segments without wounding or scarring her outer body; [6] the cone present on male genitalia assists in expanding the space between the female's lower abdominal segments. [6] Males possess a partially sclerotized copulatory tube to support and guide the flagellum into the female's sperm pouch. [6] The spermatozoa can remain within the sperm pouch weeks after depositing several eggs, suggesting the sperm pouch functions as a long-term storage organ. [6] Females may be able to store spermatozoa for their entire lifetime, a consequence of functional monandry. [6] An extragenital structure called the ectospermalege is located at the fourth segment of the female body. [6] Underneath the ectospermalege is the mesospermalege, a special endodermal pouch that receives the spermatozoa. [6] O. minutus females lack spermatheca, instead possessing a pair of pseudospermatheca at the base of their lateral oviducts; [6] the pseudospermatheca receives the spermatozoa, which transfers from the mesospermalege in the hemolymph. [6]

Pheromones

Contact sex pheromones are present within the trails of O. minutus. [7] Trails left by mature virgin females aid males in locating a mate. [7] Males will linger on leaves exposed to trails left by mature virgin females, allowing males to locate conspecific females who had recently deposited trails on the plant. [7] Males will respond to the trails regardless of their mating experience, though only trails from mature females arrest males. [7] Females respond with weak arrestment to the leaves walked on by males, which could further assist in finding a mate. [7]

Effect of temperature

Although O. minutus have a higher rate of reproduction at temperatures between 17 and 26 °C, they experience a decrease in lifetime fecundity at and above temperatures of 26 °C; [8] the reduction in fecundity at higher temperatures suggests that O. minutus are disadvantaged when experiencing wide ranges of temperatures. [4]

Life history

O. minutus females overwinter fertilized, usually emerging from hibernation in the early spring. [1] [8] [9] Males can hibernate but are unlikely to survive the winter due to their lack of diapause and inadequate lipid accumulation. [1] [10] Shortly after hibernation ends, eggs are deposited onto the base of developing flower buds or the midrib on the bottom of leaves. [1] [11]

O. minutus has five nymphal instars. [1] The developmental time from egg to adult depends on temperature and location, though adulthood is generally reached within 24 to 30 days. [1] [9] O. minutus produce at least two generations annually, though up to four generations can be produced under ideal conditions. [1] [9] Adults collected from early spring and mid-autumn suggest O. minutus is bivoltine. [1] [9]

Diet

O. minutus are generalist predators of small insects, including aphids, mites, thrips, whiteflies and scales. [1] [3] Though chiefly predacious, O. minutus may occasionally feed on plant material and sap (e.g. the fluid produced by Eryngium campestre ). [1]

Behaviour

Foraging and flying

Though O. minutus initially flies out in random directions, the discovery of prey patches shifts their dispersal into foraging activity; [2] individuals that discover patches with a high prey density are hesitant to fly out from the patches. [2] Abiotic factors significantly influence this behaviour, with increased plant foraging behaviours correlating with high solar radiation and low humidity. [2] Both males and females are diurnal fliers, though females engage in less flight activity than males. [2]

Diapause

The critical photoperiod for inducing diapause is between 14.5-9.5D and 15L-9D at 22 °C, corresponding to late summer in many regions occupied by O. minutus. [10] During diapause, the insects do not copulate, and the female's ovaries remain small until the following spring. [10] Adult females do not enter diapause regardless of short day length if their nymphal stages were spent under long day length. [10] Adult diapause is not induced in males due to a shortage of lipid accumulation. [10]

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References

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  2. 1 2 3 4 5 Tuda, M.; Shima, K. (2002). "Relative importance of weather and density dependence on the dispersal and on-plant activity of the predator Orius minutus". Popular Ecology. 44 (3): 251–257. Bibcode:2002PopEc..44..251T. doi:10.1007/s101440200028.
  3. 1 2 3 Rahman, M.A.; Sarker, S.; Ham, E.; Lee, J.S.; Lim, U.T. (2022). "Prey preference of Orius minutus and its functional response in comparison that of O. laevigatus, on Tetranychus urticae". Journal of Asia-Pacific Entomology. 25 (2): 101912. Bibcode:2022JAsPE..2501912R. doi:10.1016/j.aspen.2022.101912.
  4. 1 2 3 Lan, R.; Ren, X.; Cao, K.; Zhou, X.; Jin, L. (2022). "Demographic evaluation of the control potential of Orius minutus (Hemiptera: Anthocoridae) preying on Dendrothrips minowai Priesner (Thysanoptera: Thripidae) at different temperatures". Insects. 13 (12): 1158. doi: 10.3390/insects13121158 . PMC   9785448 . PMID   36555068.
  5. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Arakawa, T.; Taniai, K.; Maeda, T. (2019). "The mating systems of three species of minute piratebug, Orius sauteri, O. minutus, and O. strigicollis". The Netherlands Entomological Society. 167 (2): 141–151. Bibcode:2019EEApp.167..141A. doi:10.1111/eea.12740.
  6. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 Taniai, K.; Arakawa, T.; Maeda, T. (2018). "Traumatic insemination is not the case in three Orius species (Heteroptera: Anthocoridae)". PLOS ONE. 13 (12): e0206225. Bibcode:2018PLoSO..1306225T. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0206225 . PMC   6281218 . PMID   30517107.
  7. 1 2 3 4 5 Maeda, T.; Fujiwara-Tsuji, N.; Yasui, H.; Matsuyama, S. (2016). "Female sex pheromone in trails of the minute pirate bug, Orius minutus (L)". Journal of Chemical Ecology. 442 (5): 433–443. Bibcode:2016JCEco..42..433M. doi:10.1007/s10886-016-0702-2. PMID   27184908.
  8. 1 2 Kakimoto, K.; Urano, S.; Noda, T.; Matuo, L.; Sakamaki, Y.; Tsuda, K.; Kusigemati, K. (2005). "Comparison of the reproductive potential of three Orius species, O.strigicollis, O. sauteri, and O. minutus (Heteroptera : Anthocoridae), using eggs of the Mediterranean flour moth as a food source". Applied Entomology and Zoology. 40 (2): 247–255. Bibcode:2005AppEZ..40..247K. doi:10.1303/aez.2005.247.
  9. 1 2 3 4 Collyer, E. (1953). "Biology of some predatory insects and mites associated with the fruit tree red spider mite (Metatetranychus ulmi (Koch)) in south-eastern England. II. Some important predators of the mite". Journal of Horticultural Science. 28: 85–97. doi:10.1080/00221589.1953.11513772.
  10. 1 2 3 4 5 Ito, K.; Nakata, Y. (1998). "Diapause and survival in winter in two species of predatory bugs, Orius sauteri and Orius minutus". Entomologia Experimentalis et Applicata. 89: 271–276. doi:10.1046/j.1570-7458.1998.00408.x.
  11. ↑ Fulmek, L. (1930). "Kenntnis der entwicklungsstadien von Triphleps minuta L. (Anthocoridae, Hemiptera, Heteroptera)". Insektenbiol. 25: 82–88.
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