Arable: Yellow Wheat Blossom Midge - an emergent threat to UK wheat production

黄粉虫(YWBM)是英国种植最广泛的作物小麦的一种害虫，人们对此知之甚少，而且经常被低估。吸浆虫幼虫以小麦花朵为食，防止籽粒形成，导致显著的产量损失。据报道，所有小麦品种都对这种害虫敏感。在某些年份，成虫从土壤中休眠、交配和产卵所需的理想条件恰好发生在小麦最容易受到攻击的时候。然而，YWBM的损害每年都有所不同，目前很难预测。这个项目旨在加深我们对这种害虫及其对小麦作物的影响的了解。在相关的害虫蚊子中，成年雌性蚊子产生一种挥发性信息素，使成年雄性在交配前找到雌性。从简单的诱捕器释放的这些信息素的合成版本在许多作物中被广泛使用，以监测蚊虫害虫，并确定必须在何时何地实施防治策略。通过在这个项目中识别YWBM的性信息素，我们将完成开发用于英国小麦作物的适当监测工具的必要的第一步。我们之前已经鉴定了NIAB试验品系，这些品系在相邻品种的吸浆虫水平较高的季节没有表现出YWBM危害。在植物育种公司的帮助下，我们将更彻底地测试这些有希望的品系。我们将在英国各地的几个地点的小块田地里种植它们，并测量抗NIAB品系和感病商业品种的YWBM水平。我们将从这些地点和其他地点收集含有活的YWBM幼虫的未成熟麦穗和含有休眠幼虫的土壤样本，以提供蚊子的来源。幼蚊将在NIAB East Mling单独饲养，直到他们成年。NIAB和NRI的专家将收集成年男性和女性群体产生的挥发性化学物质。通过NRI的电生理实验，我们将确定哪些由雌性蚊子产生的化学物质可以被雄性蚊子检测到作为性信息素的可能成分。利用化学分析和我们在鉴定其他蚊虫信息素方面的经验，我们将开始鉴定YWBM性信息素成分。如果蚊子的供应和时间允许，我们将合成这些可能的成分进行进一步测试。NIAB还将探讨维持YWBM实验室种群的可行性，以便今后在这种重要害虫的生命周期中开展工作。

Yellow Wheat Blossom Midge (YWBM) is a poorly understood and often under-reported insect pest of wheat, the UK's most widely grown crop. Midge larvae feed on the wheat flower, preventing grain formation and leading to significant yield losses. All wheat varieties are reported to be susceptible to this pest. In some years, the ideal conditions required for adult midges to emerge from dormancy in the soil, mate and lay eggs occur just as the wheat is at its most vulnerable to attack. However, YWBM damage varies from year-to-year and is currently difficult to predict. This project aims to further our knowledge of this pest and its impact on the wheat crop.In related pest midges, adult females produce a volatile sex pheromone which allows adult males to locate females prior to mating. Synthetic versions of these pheromones released from simple traps are widely used in many crops to monitor midge pests and identify when and where control strategies must be applied. By identifying the sex pheromone of YWBM in this project, we will have completed the necessary first step in developing an appropriate monitoring tool for use in UK wheat crops. We have previously identified experimental NIAB wheat lines that showed no YWBM damage in seasons when midge levels were high in adjacent varieties. With help from plant breeding companies, we will test these promising lines more thoroughly. We will grow them in small field plots at several locations across the UK, and measure YWBM levels in resistant NIAB lines and in susceptible commercial varieties. We will collect unripe wheat ears containing live YWBM larvae, and soil samples containing dormant pupae, from these and other sites to provide a source of midges.Young midges will be reared individually at NIAB East Malling until they emerge as adults. NIAB and NRI specialists will collect the volatile chemicals produced by groups of adult males and females. Through electrophysiological experiments at NRI, we will identify which chemicals produced by female midges can be detected by the males as likely components of the sex pheromone. Using chemical analysis and our experience in identifying other midge pheromones, we will begin identification of the YWBM sex pheromone components. If supply of midges and time allows, we will synthesize these likely components for further testing. NIAB will also explore the feasibility of maintaining a laboratory colony of YWBM for future work into the life cycle of this important pest.