Acquisition of Tomato yellow leaf curl virus enhances attraction of Bemisia tabaci to green light emitting diodes

The light sensitivity of insects varies in response to different wavelengths of light. The change of light responses of vector insects plays an important role in the method of transmission and propagation of plant viruses. Here, we investigated whether the light attraction behaviors of whiteflies are altered by virus acquisition. Firstly, the light attraction rates of whiteflies were determined using LED light bulbs exhibiting different wavelengths in the visible and UV spectra. Whiteflies, Bemisia tabaci and Trialeurodes vaporariorum, were mostly attracted to green LEDs (526 nm). The attraction rate to green LED light was higher in B. tabaci than in T. vaporariorum, whereas it did not significantly differ between the B- and Q-biotypes of B. tabaci. Secondly, we investigated whether or not the green light attraction behavior of B. tabaci is influenced by the acquisition of Tomato yellow leaf curl virus (TYLCV). The attraction rate to green LED light was 2.5-3 times higher in TYLCV-infected whiteflies than in TYLCV-free whiteflies. However, this difference disappeared when the distance from the light source was greater than 0.5 m. Our results show that B. tabaci favors green light and its attraction is highly enhanced by the acquisition of the plant virus, TYLCV. (C) 2013 Published by Elsevier B.V. on behalf of Korean Society of Applied Entomology, Taiwan Entomological Society and Malaysian Plant Protection Society.