Electropenetrography comparison of male vs female planthopper probing activity

Female Perigrinus maidis planthoppers are twice as large as male planthoppers. We hypothesize that females feed more on maize than do male planthoppers. The probing behavior of male vs female planthoppers was studied using Electropenetrography (EPG. Sixteen to 20 adults of each gender were electronically recorded for six hours while feeding on 5-6 leaf maize plants. After EPG recording, the waveforms were measured and analyzed. This species produced at least eight distinct waveforms, including those that represent xylem and phloem ingestion. The male planthoppers made the same waveform patterns as the females. Specific EPG parameters such as mean probe number, mean probe duration, time to first probe, mean duration of xylem ingestion and mean duration of phloem ingestion will be discussed. The conclusion for this study was the male planthoppers had a similar feeding strategy as that of the female planthoppers.