Sexual attraction among Lygus (Hemiptera: Miridae) species

Lygus bugs (Hemiptera: Miridae), particularly the tarnished plant bug, Lygus lineolaris (Palisot de Beauvois), and Lygus hesperus Knight, are serious pests in North America (Hedlund and Graham 1987). Sex pheromones have been identified in some mirids (Smith et al. 1991; Millar et al. 1997; Millar and Rice 1998) but not in Lygus spp. (Ho and Millar 2002), despite evidence that lygus bug females produce sex pheromones (Scales 1968; Strong et al. 1970; Graham 1987; McLaughlin 1996; Scott and Snodgrass 2000). Graham (1987) found that L. lineolaris and Lygus elisus Van Duzee males were attracted to females of their own and the other species but not to L. hesperus females, whereas L. hesperus males were attracted only to conspecific females. In southwestern British Columbia, Lygus shulli Knight is a major pest in such diverse sites as conifer nurseries and greenhouses (Gillespie et al. 2000). Our objective was to determine whether sexual attraction occurs in L. shulli and whether L. shulli is cross-attracted to females of two other Lygus spp.