Arthropods use a variety of environmental cues to navigate between and locate hosts. In agricultural systems, clarifying the relevant cues and their effects on arthropod behavior can inform management practices to reduce or inhibit the activity of arthropod pests. The lesser mealworm Alphitobius diaperinus (Panzer) is a ubiquitous arthropod pest of broiler house chicken production, and while the patterns of movement and behavior of A. diaperinus are well documented, the specific environmental factors that govern these patterns are not known. We conducted behavioral assays testing the response of A. diaperinus adults and larvae to different wavelengths of light and to the presence of water. Alphitobius diaperinus displayed a significant repulsion from white, green, red, and blue light, while larvae consistently sought shelter and displayed no behavioral change in response to light. Dehydrated adult beetles displayed an attraction to water while hydrated beetles displayed a repulsion to water. Regardless of the availability of water, dehydrated beetles displayed a reduced repulsion from light. Taken together, these results indicate that A. diaperinus will hide from sources of light unless they are dehydrated. Knowledge of the environmental cues that influence the behavior of A. diaperinus could be used to improve methods of trapping, monitoring, and controlling populations of A. diaperinus in experimental and commercial settings.

中文翻译：

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小粉虫 Alphitobius diaperinus（鞘翅目：拟步甲科）表现出负趋光性和条件趋湿性

节肢动物利用各种环境线索在宿主之间导航和定位。在农业系统中，澄清相关线索及其对节肢动物行为的影响可以为管理实践提供信息，以减少或抑制节肢动物害虫的活动。小粉虫 Alphitobius diaperinus (Panzer) 是一种肉鸡生产中普遍存在的节肢动物害虫，虽然 A. diaperinus 的运动和行为模式已有详细记录，但控制这些模式的具体环境因素尚不清楚。我们进行了行为测定，测试了 A. diaperinus 成虫和幼虫对不同波长的光和水的存在的反应。Alphitobius diaperinus 对白光、绿光、红光和蓝光表现出显着的排斥性，而幼虫则始终寻求庇护，并且对光的反应没有表现出行为变化。脱水的成年甲虫表现出对水的吸引力，而水合的甲虫则表现出对水的排斥。无论是否有水，脱水的甲虫对光的排斥力都会减弱。总而言之，这些结果表明，除非脱水，否则 A. diaperinus 会躲避光源。对影响 A. diaperinus 行为的环境因素的了解可用于改进在实验和商业环境中捕获、监测和控制 A. diaperinus 种群的方法。