Study on the Regulation of the Body Color Change of Diaphorina Citri Kuwayama

Author of the article:WU Feng-Nian, CEN Yi-Jing, LIANG Guang-Wen, GAO Wa

Author's Workplace：Laboratory of Insect Ecology, South China Agricultural University

Key Words：Diaphorina citri Kuwayama, body color, sex ratio

Abstract：The changes over time in the color of 5th instar nymphs, abdomens of adults, and forewing of Diaphorina citri Kuwayama were studied. The adult color was observed immediately after emergence, 3 hours after emergence, and during the peak mating period and peak oviposition period respectively. The influence of season, host plant and population density on adult color in males and females were also studied. The result showed that the color of forewing in both females and males followed a sequence of white to black to red brown after emergence. The abdomen color of females changed from olivine to grayish white to blue to orange, while the male changed from olivine to dark gray to orange over time. The proportions of different abdomen color individuals of females changed according to seasons, host plants and population densities, while that of the male were not. The main abdomen color of female was blue or orange, while that of male was orange, followed by dark gray. The color of 5th instar nymphs also changed as they got older. The sex ratios under different conditions were approximatively 1:1, but there were fewer females than males in spring and autumn.