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

黄麦开花吸浆虫（YWBM）是一种对英国种植最广泛的小麦害虫知之甚少，而且经常被低估。吸浆虫幼虫以小麦花为食，阻止谷物形成并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，当小麦最容易受到攻击时，土壤中的成虫从休眠中出现，交配和产卵所需的理想条件就出现了。然而，YWBM的损害每年都有变化，目前很难预测。该项目旨在进一步了解这种害虫及其对小麦作物的影响。在相关的害虫吸浆虫中，成年雌性产生挥发性信息素，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被广泛用于许多作物中，以监测吸浆虫害虫，并确定何时何地必须应用控制策略。通过在这个项目中识别YWBM的性信息素，我们将完成必要的第一步，开发一个适当的监测工具，用于英国小麦作物。我们以前已经确定了实验NIAB小麦品系，表现出没有YWBM损害的季节时，吸浆虫水平在邻近品种高。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。我们将在英国几个地方的小块田地里种植它们，并测量抗NIAB品系和敏感商业品种的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，以及含有休眠蛹的土壤样本，以提供蠓的来源。幼蠓将在NIAB东马岭单独饲养，直至它们长成成虫。NIAB和NRI专家将收集成年男性和女性群体产生的挥发性化学物质。通过在NRI的电生理学实验，我们将确定哪些化学物质产生的雌性蠓可以检测到的男性作为可能的成分的性信息素。利用化学分析和我们的经验，在确定其他蠓信息素，我们将开始鉴定YWBM性信息素成分。如果供应的蠓和时间允许，我们将合成这些可能的成分，以进一步测试。NIAB还将探讨维持YWBM实验室群体的可行性，以便将来研究这种重要害虫的生命周期。

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.