Utilizing protein immunomarkers to measure in-field dispersal of plum curculio, Conotrachelus nenuphar (Coleoptera: Curculionidae)

The plum curculio, Conotrachelus nenuphar (Coleoptera: Curculionidae) is a native North American weevil and important pest of tree fruit. C.nenuphar move into orchards from wooded areas after emerging from overwintering sites in the Spring, but their movement within an orchard after this initial dispersal period has not been thoroughly studied. In this study, we used protein markers applied to peach trees and blueberry bushes to measure in-field dispersal of C. nenuphar. We used chicken egg albumin in the form of liquid egg whites along the orchard border and bovine casein in the form of cow’s milk within the orchard interior. Using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays (ELISA), we assessed whether collected C. nenuphar were marked with either or both of the two protein markers, allowing us to determine which sections of the field the insect has visited. We found that C. nenuphar has a strong edge effect in both crops, with a large portion of insects on the edge only marked with egg, but with a larger proportion of insects in the interior marked with both milk and egg, indicating that C. nenuphar in the interior moved inwards from a border row.