Decoy Mating Call Battles Citrus Pest

By | November 3, 2015

Ten years ago, a bacterial disease[细菌疾病] began to eat away[连续不断地吃; 侵蚀; 腐蚀; 咬坏] at the Florida citrus crop[佛罗里达州柑橘作物]. It's called huanglongbing[黄龙病], or citrus greening, and it causes misshapen[奇形怪状的，畸形的], bitter[苦的] green fruits and, eventually, dead trees. Since 2005, the infection[感染; 传染病;影响] is estimated to[据估计] have caused billions of dollars in damage. And the microbe[微生物，细菌] did all that damage with the unwitting[不知道的,未觉察的;无意的] help of a tiny winged insect[会飞(有翅膀)的小昆虫], the citrus psyllid[柑桔木虱], which spreads the bacterium[细菌(复数为bacteria)] as it feeds. But now researchers at the USDA[United States Department of Agriculture 美国农业部] and the University of Florida have come up with a pesticide-free[不含杀虫剂] way to battle the insect: by disrupting[使混乱,扰乱] its ability to find a mate[寻找配偶].

【柑橘黄龙病】是世界柑橘生产上的毁灭性病害， 是由一种限于韧皮部内寄生的革兰氏阴性细菌引起， 能够侵染包括柑橘属、枳属、金柑属和九里香等多种芸香科植物。

When male psyllids[雄性木虱] are looking for love, they beat their wings, sending vibrations[震动;摆动] along a tree's branches[树干]. <<male psyllid call>> Nearby females pick up that signal and send back one of their own, <<female psyllid call>> which tells males to come hither[到此处，向此处].

The researchers eavesdropped[偷听] on that duet[二重奏,二重唱;一对] with a microphone, rigged[操纵] to an electronic microcontroller[电子微控制器 ]. And when the controller identified a male's call, it sent out a decoy[诱饵，诱鸟; 圈套; 诱捕] female response <<decoy call>>--more quickly than real females could respond. <<female psyllid call>> That imposter[冒名顶替者;江湖骗子]'s call actually lured[吸引，引诱] males to the device, where instead of a mate they found flypaper[捕蝇纸]. The researchers presented the results at a meeting of the Acoustical Society of America, in Jacksonville[杰克逊维尔(美国佛罗里达州东北部港市)], Florida.

The technique isn't ready for the limelight[众人注意的中心] just yet. For one, though the decoy call does fool the bugs, they’re still adept at[熟练于] avoiding the flypaper. But the researchers say this sort of "signal jamming[信号干扰]" interference[妨碍;干扰] might be able to disrupt the insects' ability to find a mate, cutting overall numbers of the pest[讨厌的人或事; 有害动植物; 瘟疫]. A similar technique has worked in vineyards[葡萄园]--and if it works in orange groves[橘园], it could help citrus growers get out of this squeeze[压力].

—Christopher Intagliata

From 60-Second Science