Cheng DengFa

Diffusion of colorado potato beetle, Leptinotarsa decemlineata, adults in field

The Colorado potato beetle (CPB), Leptinotarsa decemlineata (Say), is a highly destructive migratory pest on potato crops worldwide. It originated in the United States or Mexico and has now invaded more than 40 countries across North America, Europe, Australia, and Asia. This invasive pest dispersed from Kazakhstan into the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region of China, where it was first discovered on potato crops in the Ili River Valley area in 1993. Since then, it has spread widely throughout the northern of Tianshan Mountain region. CPB can migrate independently, and its optimal survival strategy involving high reproductive rates and diapause have allowed it to spread eastward, where it now threatens to invade Gansu and the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, the main potato鄄producing regions of China. CPB can migrate both naturally and artificially. Although CPB can travel via running water, flight migration is more ecologically important. Several factors can affect CPB migration, including geographic blockages, overwintering conditions, host distribution, wind speed and direction, and level of CPB control; the first two are the most decisive factors. CPB adult flight is directly affected by environmental factors; starvation and high light intensity can both stimulate flight of CPB. Adults of the overwintered generation continue to store nutrients in their bodies, which helps them fly long distances to find an appropriate host. Therefore, understanding the diffusion pattern of this migratory pest is important for developing more efficient prevention and control measures. In this study, the diffusion of CPB was evaluated using the “mark鄄release鄄recapture冶 method in a potato field in Xinjiang Province, China, in 2012. Diffusion speeds and direction of adult CPB were compared