Decoy Mating Call Battles Citrus Pest

声音抗虫

Researchers developed a call that effectively mimics the citrus psyllid's mating song, which could be a weapon against a devastating crop scourge. Christopher Intagliata reports

研究人员开发了一种能模拟柑橘木虱的求偶歌的装置，这个装置将成为对抗这种毁灭性的“植物瘟疫”的武器。

撰文/播音 Christopher Intagliata

翻译 M

审稿 邰伦玥

Ten years ago, a bacterial disease began to eat away at the Florida citrus crop. It's called huanglongbing, or citrus greening, and it causes misshapen, bitter green fruits and, eventually, dead trees. Since 2005, the infection is estimated to have caused billions of dollars in damage. And the microbe did all that damage with the unwitting help of a tiny winged insect, the citrus psyllid, which spreads the bacterium as it feeds. But now researchers at the USDA and the University of Florida have come up with a pesticide-free way to battle the insect: by disrupting its ability to find a mate.

十年前，一种细菌性疾病开始侵蚀佛罗里达州的柑橘类作物。这个疾病被称为黄龙病或柑橘绿化症。它使得柑橘的果实变形，变绿，变苦，并最终致使树体死亡。据估计，从2005年起，该疾病已造成了数十亿的经济损失。这种微生物的肆虐与一种细小的有翅昆虫——柑橘木虱有关。这种昆虫在进食的时候，不经意地把细菌传播到树木上。然而现在，美国农业部与佛罗里达大学的科学家联手找出了一种无需杀虫剂即可对抗这种昆虫的方法：扰乱他们交配。

When male psyllids are looking for love, they beat their wings, sending vibrations along a tree's branches. <<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. 

当雄性木虱求爱时，他们会拍击它们的翅膀，让震动在树木的枝干上传播。【雄虫叫声】附近的雌性收到这个信号后就会作出回应【雌虫叫声】，告诉雄性往这边来。

The researchers eavesdropped on that duet with a microphone, rigged to an electronic microcontroller. And when the controller identified a male's call, it sent out a decoy female response <<decoy call>>--more quickly than real females could respond. <<female psyllid call>> That imposter's call actually lured males to the device, where instead of a mate they found flypaper. The researchers presented the results at a meeting of the Acoustical Society of America, in Jacksonville, Florida. [Richard Mankin and Barukh Rohde, Use of vibrational duetting mimics to trap and disrupt mating of the Asian citrus psyllid, a devastating pest in Florida groves]

研究人员使用麦克风以监听这种对唱，并将信号传往微电子控制器。这个控制器会识别出雄虫的声音，并对应的放出诱骗的雌虫叫声【诱骗叫声】，这个回应会比真正的雌虫的更快地发出【雌虫叫声】。那个“冒充者”的声音会把雄虫吸引到设备的位置。在那里，迎接雄虫的不是雌虫，而是捕蝇纸。研究人员在佛罗里达的杰克逊维尔举行的美国声学会会议上，研究人员展示了他们的成果。

The technique isn't ready for the limelight just yet. For one, though the decoy call doesfool the bugs, they’re still adept at avoiding the flypaper. But the researchers say this sort of "signal jamming" interference might be able to disrupt the insects' ability to find a mate, cutting overall numbers of the pest. A similar technique has worked in vineyards--and if it works in orange groves, it could help citrus growers get out of this squeeze.

这种技术尚未能实际应用。其中一个原因是，尽管这些诱捕叫声确实能够骗过这些虫子，但它们仍然能躲过捕蝇纸。不过，研究人员认为这些类似“信号干扰”的干涉作用可能能够扰乱这些昆虫的寻找配偶的能力，从而减少种群的数量。一种相似的技术已经被应用于葡萄庄园——如果这种技术同样能用于柑橘林，这会帮助柑橘种植者脱离细菌的困扰。

（题图来源：gizmodo.com）